...So do I suck at this game, or what?

[Rude]

I'm not a newbie to Mortal Kombat by any stretch of the imagination. I do however, seem to be really terrible at this game. Allow me to explain:

I started out with Mileena. The learning curve was awkward at first, but overtime I adjusted and found myself winning against the computer fairly often. So I went online...this was back when lag and match drops were common-place, and found myself losing quite a bit.

Many patches later, and for every three matches I play, I "might" win one.

Recently, I have picked up a new character in Ermac. I like his style, his character concept, fatalities, and special moves. They're fun. All of this said, I have spent, regularly, at least two hours per day in practice mode, usually more, just about every day with some exceptions. I have reached the point where I can execute(without x-ray) a 40% damage combo, which is a lot to me. I also have several other bread and butters that I know, so one would THINK that I have a basic understanding of the game.

And yet...I lose constantly online. I lose to Kabals, Scorpians, Quan Chis, Sub-Zeros, Sindels, the list goes on. On the rare occasion I do win, it is by very slim margins and never consistently.

When I play against people online, it as if I unlearn everything I've practiced. I don't follow up on my combo starters, or when I do, they're broken and the match is quickly slipped from my fingers. I've watched and practiced many of the combo videos both here and what I have found online. I watched matches from EVO several times, in hopes of gaining some insight as to how high level play works.

I even considered buying the strategy guide. Yet no matter what I do...I cannot win consistently.

So I have to ask...do I just suck at this game, or what?

 

[Lyuben]

I am top 5 on the ranked player matches. This means hardly anything but consider this: I used to have a 1 win to 3 loss ratio before. I had your problem. I was a beast in training mode and chocked in online matches. What helped me was confidence. Hard to find but stick with one character, learn ALL their normals. Not just one, not just the good ones ALL. Learn them fully and just go with one character, if you keep switching you will not find this confidence. Good luck.

Also: Start small. When I played as Kabal my biggest combo was 23% and I landed it rarely. I had such pride when I did. So start with a small, easy combo and work your way up.

 

[Dark_Rob]

I'm not a newbie to Mortal Kombat by any stretch of the imagination. I do however, seem to be really terrible at this game. Allow me to explain:

I started out with Mileena. The learning curve was awkward at first, but overtime I adjusted and found myself winning against the computer fairly often. So I went online...this was back when lag and match drops were common-place, and found myself losing quite a bit.

Many patches later, and for every three matches I play, I "might" win one.

Recently, I have picked up a new character in Ermac. I like his style, his character concept, fatalities, and special moves. They're fun. All of this said, I have spent, regularly, at least two hours per day in practice mode, usually more, just about every day with some exceptions. I have reached the point where I can execute(without x-ray) a 40% damage combo, which is a lot to me. I also have several other bread and butters that I know, so one would THINK that I have a basic understanding of the game.

And yet...I lose constantly online. I lose to Kabals, Scorpians, Quan Chis, Sub-Zeros, Sindels, the list goes on. On the rare occasion I do win, it is by very slim margins and never consistently.

When I play against people online, it as if I unlearn everything I've practiced. I don't follow up on my combo starters, or when I do, they're broken and the match is quickly slipped from my fingers. I've watched and practiced many of the combo videos both here and what I have found online. I watched matches from EVO several times, in hopes of gaining some insight as to how high level play works.

I even considered buying the strategy guide. Yet no matter what I do...I cannot win consistently.

So I have to ask...do I just suck at this game, or what?

First, forget combo videos. Combo videos are just demonstrations of what the engine is capable of. They are not a reflection of how the game is played by any stretch of the imagination. And even watching other players matches will only get you so far. What you need is matchup experience against good competition offline. For 2 reasons.

1. The game plays horribly online and what works online is not always an accurate representation of how the game plays offline.
2. Offline you will meet other players, players who are better than you, players who understand how the game should be played better than you do. These people can help you get better. They can show you what you are doing wrong and what you should be doing instead.

For instance, Im a member of the Valley Stream monsters, a group that meets every Thursday night to play casuals and mock tournaments. We have some of the best players ever to pick up a controller(Crazy Dominican,CDJR,REO,Classy Sasquatch,Maxter to name a few)Whenever somethings not working for me or Im losing to something I just dont understand I just ask one of these guys and one of them always has an anwser for me.
Better players will also push you to become better yourself. They give you no choice but to become better, otherwise you just keep losing.

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

I'm not a newbie to Mortal Kombat by any stretch of the imagination. I do however, seem to be really terrible at this game. Allow me to explain:

I started out with Mileena. The learning curve was awkward at first, but overtime I adjusted and found myself winning against the computer fairly often. So I went online...this was back when lag and match drops were common-place, and found myself losing quite a bit.

Many patches later, and for every three matches I play, I "might" win one.

Recently, I have picked up a new character in Ermac. I like his style, his character concept, fatalities, and special moves. They're fun. All of this said, I have spent, regularly, at least two hours per day in practice mode, usually more, just about every day with some exceptions. I have reached the point where I can execute(without x-ray) a 40% damage combo, which is a lot to me. I also have several other bread and butters that I know, so one would THINK that I have a basic understanding of the game.

And yet...I lose constantly online. I lose to Kabals, Scorpians, Quan Chis, Sub-Zeros, Sindels, the list goes on. On the rare occasion I do win, it is by very slim margins and never consistently.

When I play against people online, it as if I unlearn everything I've practiced. I don't follow up on my combo starters, or when I do, they're broken and the match is quickly slipped from my fingers. I've watched and practiced many of the combo videos both here and what I have found online. I watched matches from EVO several times, in hopes of gaining some insight as to how high level play works.

I even considered buying the strategy guide. Yet no matter what I do...I cannot win consistently.

So I have to ask...do I just suck at this game, or what?

the best thing to do IMHO is to dumb down your character. So you want to use Ermac. Great. Find 2 combo's, a punisher and a jip starter. Every match... use those. Learn how to read other characters. You may not win... but you'll be a hell of a lot better of a player. Soon those few combo's become second nature... then you bump up your punisher. instead of the tkl, jumpkick teleport, tkp. do the b114, tkl blah blah balh.
The most important thing is to know HOW to punish and HOW to read people. Because people make mistakes.... ALOT!

 

[Saint]

You have already partially answered your own question.

- I don't follow up on my combo starters,

The reason is they're not integrated into your brain, you need to be able to execute combos without thinking about them.

With that said, online is laggy at times and not the best place to be.


Learn one mid and one corner bnb and make them second nature to you.

Learn the other playable characters mechanics and hit-strings.

From there it's just a big game of whoever capitalizes on most mistakes.

 

[Mr.Snuggles]

Sounds to me like you simply don't know the matchups well enough. You don't know what to expect and they are catching you off guard. Sounds like you aren't confident enough either, as Lyuben said. You are worried about dropping your combo and it ends up happening. Combo's aren't the only part of the game either. Personally I feel that reading your opponent and baiting the attacks you want are much more important than anything else. Don't try to make opportunities appear ( not until you feel you've gained a bit of mastery in your character department ), let your opponent make a mistake then take the opportunity.

Ermac specifically though, don't attempt to use his TKL unless you are certain you're going to connect with it. It's a very punishable move if blocked.

If you can somehow show a video of you playing, I'm sure it would help greatly. Or if you can somehow get on XBL and play I'd be glad to help you out as much as I can.

 

[leek]

I'm not a newbie to Mortal Kombat by any stretch of the imagination. I do however, seem to be really terrible at this game. Allow me to explain:

I started out with Mileena. The learning curve was awkward at first, but overtime I adjusted and found myself winning against the computer fairly often. So I went online...this was back when lag and match drops were common-place, and found myself losing quite a bit.

Many patches later, and for every three matches I play, I "might" win one.

Recently, I have picked up a new character in Ermac. I like his style, his character concept, fatalities, and special moves. They're fun. All of this said, I have spent, regularly, at least two hours per day in practice mode, usually more, just about every day with some exceptions. I have reached the point where I can execute(without x-ray) a 40% damage combo, which is a lot to me. I also have several other bread and butters that I know, so one would THINK that I have a basic understanding of the game.

And yet...I lose constantly online. I lose to Kabals, Scorpians, Quan Chis, Sub-Zeros, Sindels, the list goes on. On the rare occasion I do win, it is by very slim margins and never consistently.

When I play against people online, it as if I unlearn everything I've practiced. I don't follow up on my combo starters, or when I do, they're broken and the match is quickly slipped from my fingers. I've watched and practiced many of the combo videos both here and what I have found online. I watched matches from EVO several times, in hopes of gaining some insight as to how high level play works.

I even considered buying the strategy guide. Yet no matter what I do...I cannot win consistently.

So I have to ask...do I just suck at this game, or what?

Don't buy the prima strategy guide.

Absolutely terrible..unless you mean the tom brady living guide, which is great. Shows strategy, combos, best strings etc etc. updated fairly often too.

Online is online. It's much too laggy to base your gameplay off of this. It might be your blocking, that's what seems to be a problem for most people first off in this game. learning to block low/high and fuzzyguard(alternate up and down blocking during a block string your opponent is hitting you with.)

But go to an offline tournament if you can, or even just casuals you know? Because the lag online makes it extremely difficult to be able to pull off combos consistently and etc etc.

Post some matches of online if you can in this thread.

 

[Rude]

Thank You

Thanks for all of the words and advice, guys.

How does one record a match online? I don't have a camera, but is there another way?

Also, there is no real MK community here in Louisiana, nothing substantial anyway, so my options are to play against a computer or play online. In fact, 90% of my play experience against other people have been in online matches.

I'd like to get to a point where I could say, go to an out-of-state tourney and do well. One thing I don't quite understand though, is why some combos and moves work offline and don't work online. Is it a net code issue?

Also, I'm on the Playstation Network as jshipp39 if any of you would like a match. I assure you that you would win quickly. :-P

 

[SilverKeyMan]

The biggest suggestions I have for online play is (1) learn which attacks hit high/low/overhead for ALL of your possible opponents. This takes some time, and is something I'm still working on, to be honest. And (2) simplify your online combos. Lag can easily result in difficult combos being dropped.

 

[eskuAdradit0]

Well maybe you're starting off with the wrong char.
Ermac is a zoner, that means he's supposed to keep the enemy on a side of the map where HE wants them to be. On close range situations ermac may not be that useful, since (as far as I can recall) he does not have combos that start with an overhead or low hits. Sure, he does have some high damaging combos, but hitting them on a real match is hard, and it's even harder with that lag.

Either you could pick another char and learn ALL of him as they told you before. Learn all of his strings, which are safe, which aren't, which are comboable, which aren't, which can you cancel off to keep them trapped. Also, you have to learn matchups. That means, you have to know how to punish their mistakes and what's best, either to go for dmg or go for map control.

You should also learn some basic stuff like how many blocked hits give you a meter bar(12), or how much life do you have to lose to get a meter bar(50% life points lost = 1 meter). Meter management, frame traps, which are your fastest specials, where does your xray hits, if it's worth comboing it, if it has armor, what is armor, what is superarmor, that kinda stuff.
And yeah, try to look for buddies around your area who are willing to play with you and teach you so you can all learn together. You'll have tons of fun.

Also, I'd say that once you completely crush the offline mode against the AI on expert, then you're a decent player, because fighting AI and fighting an human being are two completely different things. Don't forget to visit character specific forums and also Tom Brady's living guide is good stuff. You should consider buying it since it's really cheap.

 

[Ssj4Crisis_x]

Thanks for all of the words and advice, guys.

How does one record a match online? I don't have a camera, but is there another way?

Also, there is no real MK community here in Louisiana, nothing substantial anyway, so my options are to play against a computer or play online. In fact, 90% of my play experience against other people have been in online matches.

I'd like to get to a point where I could say, go to an out-of-state tourney and do well. One thing I don't quite understand though, is why some combos and moves work offline and don't work online. Is it a net code issue?

Also, I'm on the Playstation Network as jshipp39 if any of you would like a match. I assure you that you would win quickly. :-P

I'll add you when I get on today. You got a mic?

Also as far as recording your game goes...there's alot of options out there it just depends on how much you want to spend. The more you spend the better quality. I'll list a few options below

1. To record using Composite Cables or S-video cable you want to use (Records in standard): http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Dazzle/

This could run you any where from $60 to $120

2. (It records in 480p but you can render it out at 1080p) For Component cables: http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/game-capture/console/overview.html

This one is $100 but I've seen it cheaper on Amazon and Ebay

3. For Component cables you can use (Records in HD 1080p and lower): http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html
Easily $200, but try sites like Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com They usually do sells on gaming equipment

There are some HDMI cards out there but you'll be required to install them and its usually costs more then the Hauppauge, so again it just depends on your budget and the quality you want. The Roxio looks good but its HD quality doesn't compare to that of the Hauppauge. You can see the quality of all three products on youtube.

 

[aj1701]

Also: Start small. When I played as Kabal my biggest combo was 23% and I landed it rarely. I had such pride when I did. So start with a small, easy combo and work your way up.

Great, I'm glad to hear this finally. Sometimes its discouraging to hear the great players here say "oh that bnb 45% combo is easy, took me five minutes to learn."

I'm just now finally at a point where I'm more often than not landing a 30 - 34% Kitana combo. Breaking into the 30s was a nice confidence builder for me. Now if I can just catch people online with it more

 

[Lyuben]

Great, I'm glad to hear this finally. Sometimes its discouraging to hear the great players here say "oh that bnb 45% combo is easy, took me five minutes to learn."

I'm just now finally at a point where I'm more often than not landing a 30 - 34% Kitana combo. Breaking into the 30s was a nice confidence builder for me. Now if I can just catch people online with it more

You jealous of my b121 dash 212?

 

[Saint]

Also, what you'll notice is when you've figured out how to execute a bigger combo for one character all the others will become alot easier.

I started with scorpion and it took me a good day or two to perfect his standard bnb. (This is my first fighter where I've bothered to level up my skill)

When I later switched to reptile, cage and kitana later it literally took me 5 minutes or so to get their combos down.

Just keep practising!

 

[CompletelyJaded]

I would like to say whether I suck or not but frankly, I only ever played Jade.

I love the community, even met people I'm intending to keep in touch with (special shoutout to you, Chirpful!)
but MK9 is imbalanced and utter shit in my opinion. I'm saying that with 4k online games under my belt, with one single character.
The lowest low I've hit at sucking though was when I was unable to even touch some players.
ExGlow nothing.
This is Kung Lao kombat.

 

[Ninj]

I would like to say whether I suck or not but frankly, I only ever played Jade.

I love the community, even met people I'm intending to keep in touch with (special shoutout to you, Chirpful!)
but MK9 is imbalanced and utter shit in my opinion. I'm saying that with 4k online games under my belt, with one single character.
The lowest low I've hit at sucking though was when I was unable to even touch some players.
ExGlow nothing.
This is Kung Lao kombat.

Your name is accurate...Kung Lao isn't that bad. Get over it, and get better at fighting him - there's plenty of practice, as most people have picked him up in hopes of winning easier.

 

[Saint]

Hey, why don't you record your games and let the better jade players see so they can judge if you're optimizing yourself in every situation. That way we'll see if all your bitching is valid.

I mean no harm with this, just trying to help out.
I admire your loyalty to jade.

 

[CompletelyJaded]

Your name is accurate...Kung Lao isn't that bad. Get over it, and get better at fighting him - there's plenty of practice, as most people have picked him up in hopes of winning easier.

I only take condescending advice from fellow Jade mainers, sorry. But they have to be better at playing her than I am!

 

[CompletelyJaded]

Hey, why don't you record your games and let the better jade players see so they can judge if you're optimizing yourself in every situation. That way we'll see if all your bitching is valid.

I mean no harm with this, just trying to help out.
I admire your loyalty to jade.

(Sorry for doublepost, moderators.. this was posted during my previous post apparently)

Living in a backwater european country, a hd dazzle costs me more than I can afford if I want to pay bills AND eat currently. At least I'm done with uni now.. whee.

EDIT: Plus I was literally begging both people I know to play her, to write up a complete strategy. They are busy. They won't be watching hours upon hours of footage of me noobin' around if they don't even have the time to post that.

 

[Lyuben]

GMT+1 is not some backwater EU country. At worst you are in Poland or something.

Now Ukraine is something else. One of THOSE countries.

 

[Saint]

What's your internet connection?

 

[Nolan1654]

Play until you feel comfortable if you lose don't let it get you down. I was about 52-48 my first 100 matches and like you i was a beast in training mode.
I'm fairly decent at combos so i was hitting 40 to 50% combos easily after training for a few weeks. I also had the same problem where i felt i forgot my training in an actual fight. First step is find the character your most comfortable with not just tier whore or use the characters you see high level players use. Your probably thinking Kung Lao isn't that tier whoring but this was actually the character i felt fit my play style perfectly. I like very fast rush down characters and being highly offensive thus Kung Lao.

Next is once you find your character stick with him threw thick and thin and keep grinding at it. Next Know everything about that character as a poster said above me know his overhead his counter for jump ins his mix ups everything. And finally profit i was 52-48 now I'm 160-80 and i fought a guy 1600-500 today name was devin, brought him to the final round to the final moves. I lost but in fighting games confidence is huge and i know records don't matter online but i can't say it didn't boost my confidence. Going from a mediocre player to contending with a top 100 player online in 2-3 weeks that confidence will help you and it's helping me. As a player who always complains about online and the slow downs i really want to make my way to a local tourney now.

 

[Saint]

fuck confidence, what you're looking for is competence

 

[Nolan1654]

fuck confidence, what you're looking for is competence

confidence leads to competence

 

[Eight]

I always feel like I'm really fucking bad at MK when I play online.

I've only been to one offline tourney, but it jacked my confidence through the roof for a while afterward. I felt like I was playing way way way way way better than I'd ever played in an online match.

Offline brings out the best in your abilities, I think. I just wish I lived somewhere with an awesome scene.

Spoiler

I am SO jealous of you, D_Rob. I would sell my soul to be able to go to a scene like that every week