Need Help: Leveling up my game!

[Noodlz]

Very frustrated. I really need someone experienced to help me out with my game. Every time i go online i feel like i get my ass kicked, even though i feel like i have a very solid understanding of how the system works (this happens with most games, but in this case it's MK9). I tend to always lose in the 3rd round for some reason. I'm not sure what I can do to level up my game besides hitting up practice mode, learning the system and playing people. It feels like i'm not improving and i'm still stuck in scrubdom.

I mean, i still lose pretty often to some of my friends that barely play fighting games anymore, which really pisses me off because i spend so much time but i still lose...there's gotta be something fundamentally wrong with what i'm doing

I'd love to get some tips/ advice / feedback on how I play and how i can improve my game overall, especially in MK9. Thanks

 

[cyke_out]

A lot of times people go into training mode and learn long damaging combo's and can waste the AI, but still get beat, simply because they lack true fundamental's. Now, I can't really tell you what you are doing wrong without seeing you play, but work on proper safety and spacing first and foremost. Knowing all the combo's in the world isn't going to help you if you can never land them.

 

[Fabulocity]

Practice mode only helps so much. Especially true with this game's practice mode... *shudder*

What you need to figure out in practice mode are not just combos, but set ups for those combos. Sure, you may do bigger, nastier combos than your friends, but if you never land them you'll lose out to someone who can barely two-in-one.

Take for example, you have a really good overhead. It's fast and leads to a combo that does alot of damage. Don't just practice that combo, find out how far away you can possibly be to still connect all the hits. Then find out how many crouching light hits you can get in before they're too far away to hit the overhead into combo. Now you have a very basic set up.

So go forth and do that to your friends!

After a while though, they may wise up and start blocking or punishing that stuff. That's when you go back to practice mode to find a mix up. Say with that last set up you could fit about two crouching kicks before you had to go for the overhead. Now that you're conditioned your opponent to look for overhead after two crouching kicks, you switch it up on them with a sweep! BA-ZINGA!

Eventually your rivals will catch on to that as well, so you'll have to constantly hit the practice room to find more nifty tricks to counter their counters to your last nifty tricks.

In conclusion, don't just practice combos. Learn to set them up so that you can actually someone with them. Then when you do that, don't get lazy. Figure out other options, using actual combat experience to supplement your practice room experimentation so that your strategies are always changing and growing.

Also, when playing online turn your mic on and blast Amy Whinehouse over the speakers to confuse and annoy your enemies. Works better than wake up X-Rays.

 

[Sequel]

You live in SoCal. There's a huge offline scene here.

Honestly, I don't think posting on forums levels up anyone's game. Fighting games - like all things in life actually - require you to get hands on experience. Particularly in this case: matchup experience.

 

[Fabulocity]

Wait, you live in SoCal and never go to WNF or one the MANYMANYMANY casuals people hold on an almost DAILY basis? Damn, I typed all that for nothing.

BOY, GET THE FUCK OUTTA YOUR GODDAMN HOUSE AND FUCKING GO TALK TO PEOPLE.

IN PERSON.

That's how the fuck you level up your game.