Strategy Video - Getting Massacred. How do I get Better?

[TheGangstaFace]

I saw that you said you wanna stick with Lasher. Just stick with him for a while. Lasher is a really strong character. If you wanna get better, do yourself a favor and try to find a training partner of some sort so you can level up together and just dig into the game and learn

 

[Tanno]

This is why I was telling you right at my first post above. First, learn the fundamentals, then go to practice and learn your character by watching the YT videos, and finally, go to the ranked matches to get used with your character as well as his MUs against other characters. This is what everyone does here.

You just rushed and started playing the room matches. We understand that it might be your first time playing a fighting game. Unlike the other games (Guilty Gears, Street Fighter, etc), Mortal Kombat X needs a much more relaxing pace when pressing the buttons and think of what to do next while you watch your own opponent.

Since I got used with Grandmaster Sub Zero, I kept watching my own opponents without watching Sub Zero himself, and this is why I can think of what to do, how to react and how to fish him out. I had to learn first thing the fundamentals to understand anything here before learning the combos and such. And this is how almost every high leveled fighter do in many fighting games. And don't think that it was easy. It took me a year to get much competitive, because I was a casual some years ago and didn't think of being much competitive like today. If you want to win, you need to be competitive and act on it as if you're in the real arena yourself against your opponent.

Once you learn your own character, you'll understand how the game works in no time.

Good luck.

BTW, where are you from? We could introduce you some players to help you out with it

 

[omooba]

I think you just need experience

 

[Cashual]

B21 is all about its spacing. You need to be using b21 from half screen or so. It's typical of these kind of moves and of this character design: long range attacks that lead to big damage are slow as to not be over powered. So if you try b21 too close you'll be stuffed by almost any other button an opponent has. If he reads b21 and has the mobility around it, you'll get punished. It's all about knowing when to use different strings in the context of the match. You'd be better off using f122+4 or staggering it with things like f12 kunai etc. b21 can be great as a meaty after you've knocked them down, and of course elsewhere but just a quick example that if you try and use even an amazing tool in the wrong situation you'll get mopped.

First step is understanding the character you're playing. Takeda isn't known for fast attacks and being good up close it's simply not his design even though he has had some pokes sped up. So if you want to play that style, there's a lot of characters much more suited to it.

Takeda has some of the best screen control in the game and if used right his range and mixup potential in lasher can feel oppressive. For the most part takeda is a keep away style character and you want to try and prevent characters like cage, Sonya, Cassie, Liu Lang etc. from getting in your face where their faster buttons and in some cases overhead/low mixups will mop you.

Watch high level takeda play and see what they do. For lasher specifically check out Vman.

But again, just play a shit ton, dial in execution, play the ai, go practice against things that you struggle against in practice mode by recording the specific moves that trouble you, and do stuff like set the ai to jump towards you and practice anti air conversions, etc. you'll improve quickly.

If you're on PS4 add me Cansuela. I'll give you games and I'm not that good. I'd also be willing to play other characters I don't play much to make it more fair.

 

[GAV]

The best way to stop getting massacred.......... is to continue getting massacred. Keep playing at all cost take your losses and learn. I had a rough time with this game more so then any fighter I've played, I'm aN OG so the youngsters seem to run train on me lol, but I've finally come around to be competitive at a reasonable level. You need to be a bit more aggressive and know your turn. Frame data knowledge comes in time.

The way I learn frame data...

"Take this!!!" (Blocked) <Ouch!> "Well, that ended well ... I guess that wasn't smart."

 

[Dieoxin]

I've recently picked up lasher. I play shirai ryu and sektor as well. U.K. Player, send a friend request on PS4 if you'd like. I'm not always on but I don't mind having a conversation about mkx. Just keep on playing and watch a lot of gameplay and try and think about what you're doing. If you see something always catching you out then just record it and watch it later and see how you can get out of that situation and lab it. Good luck!

 

[ThaShiveGeek]

This is why I love TYM.

 

[Tanno]

This is why I love TYM.

You love TYM for transforming the casuals into hardcore fighters, eh? lol

 

[Wigy]

Go sub, made for beginners.

Lashers tools have some inputs that would be awkward for a beginner

 

[Tanno]

Go sub, made for beginners.

Lashers tools have some inputs that would be awkward for a beginner

Let him try all of the chars. Once he finds a char that suits him, let him do what he likes. This is how everybody started in MKX, right?

 

[Wigy]

Let him try all of the chars. Once he finds a char that suits him, let him do what he likes. This is how everybody started in MKX, right?

I just wanted to say that sub was an easy piece of shit tbh.

That being said, sub is one of the most common picks as hes so easy to do so well with.

 

[Bhagwad]

Thanks for the amazing replies people! It's nice to have some encouragement

 

[Bhagwad]

I just went into a room and won two matches straight - one of them with a flawless victory. I was so excited, I switched the PS4 off...I don't want to push my luck . My hands are still shaking! Lots of thanks to the tips on this forum to be more aggressive, use B21 at range, and I've also been using f12+4 with kunai to get a high/low mix up game.

No doubt I will keep getting my ass kicked with more experienced players. But I've never won so much till now

 

[Cashual]

It's an addictive feeling man, enjoy it, and be ready to lose 10-0 to someone tomorrow. So she goes early on, but that's awesome man, feels good to see improvement.

 

[youthinkyoubadyouaintbad]

Iron from ice!

 

[gam224]

Watch all of these, some of the information may be outdated but it's still worth the watch.

 

[GLoRToR]

So question: What is the single biggest thing I can do to improve my online play?

Not really a single thing, man.
Just overall, play a lot of games, watch good players play and figure out which character suits you best and how to best utilise that character's tools. It seems to me like you like Takeda, stick with him then and watch Hayatei play.
Fundamentals are absolutely necessary so don't get in there with the mindset that you want to win games. Play to learn instead.

 

[GLoRToR]

So question: What is the single biggest thing I can do to improve my online play?

Okay here's maybe one thing that could be the first step.
Do NOT whiff your moves. You keep pressing buttons and hitting nothing. Whiffing creates an opportunity for the opponent so instead learn what tools they have and what opportunities each situation creates for them. For example if you whiff an njp you could get seriously blown up by Kung Lao for it, but not by Cage because his options against long range whiff punishing aren't that great.

 

[Bhagwad]

Okay here's maybe one thing that could be the first step.
Do NOT whiff your moves. You keep pressing buttons and hitting nothing. Whiffing creates an opportunity for the opponent so instead learn what tools they have and what opportunities each situation creates for them. For example if you whiff an njp you could get seriously blown up by Kung Lao for it, but not by Cage because his options against long range whiff punishing aren't that great.

Wow, that would require me to know the details of the moves of all the other guys. How many years did it take you to learn all that??

 

[GLoRToR]

Wow, that would require me to know the details of the moves of all the other guys. How many years did it take you to learn all that??

You don't have to know all the numbers necessarily to do well, but professionals like Sonic tend to just know them after a while.
Fighting Games on a high level aren't casual fun anymore. It can take a while.

For me, it was towards the end of the second year of playing fighting games every day when I started to understand how they work on a fundamental level. I'm nowhere near the professional level, that takes serious dedication, mind. But if you keep at it, read, watch videos, and spend time with the community you pick things up over time.

Google for things like "fighting game fundamentals" and don't worry if the videos and articles aren't strictly about this game. The basics are all valid for every fighting game.

For example the concept of punishing is true in every computer game where moves can whiff. If my move takes 4 frames to come out and I miss, and you have a 2 frame attack, you can hit me twice ideally before I can even move.

 

[Tanno]

You don't have to know all the numbers necessarily to do well, but professionals like Sonic tend to just know them after a while.
Fighting Games on a high level aren't casual fun anymore. It can take a while.

For me, it was towards the end of the second year of playing fighting games every day when I started to understand how they work on a fundamental level. I'm nowhere near the professional level, that takes serious dedication, mind. But if you keep at it, read, watch videos, and spend time with the community you pick things up over time.

Google for things like "fighting game fundamentals" and don't worry if the videos and articles aren't strictly about this game. The basics are all valid for every fighting game.

For example the concept of punishing is true in every computer game where moves can whiff. If my move takes 4 frames to come out and I miss, and you have a 2 frame attack, you can hit me twice ideally before I can even move.

To add this:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_fighting_games

(I wish I could find a proper site to help you out more)

This full list of Fundamentals will help you out of how to play the fighting games, such as Mortal Kombat, properly. If you read this, you will understand how things work out here in the Fighting Game world. If you were into a martial art, then consider the fundamentals as the most basic stuff in martial arts. Note that the move inputs in Mortal Kombat are different from the other fighting games, so ask around to help you understand what any input means and how to think of this accordingly.

After reading the fundamentals, go train with Lasher Takeda. You can ask around in these forums: https://testyourmight.com/forums/takahashi-takeda.428/ to help you out with Lasher Takeda. Or if you ever pick Sub Zero, here are these forums: https://testyourmight.com/forums/sub-zero.403/ .

So do yourself a favor and stop playing the online games for a while. To make yourself a pro like the rest of us, you need to train with your character, have a certain mindset to know how to deal with each opponent, meaning to have a tactical and strategical mind, and have good reactions and reads. To acquire them, you need to find good players in your country to train you and explain you how things work, such you need to tell us where you are from, so that we may help you out.

In this video, what you showed was the bad read. A good read is to see your opponent's animation doing a punch or a kick, so you know where you need to block (high or low). A good reaction is to know how to evade a dangerous move or doing a counterattack (in Mortal Kombat X, as of the last patch the counterattack is now dubbed Kounter).

It will take you awhile to get used to it. If you learn your character's moves, and then watching Takeda's combo videos in Youtube, you will most likely recognize the moves and think of your own combos, like every pro do.

 

[GLoRToR]

To add this:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_fighting_games

(I wish I could find a proper site to help you out more)

This full list of Fundamentals will help you out of how to play the fighting games, such as Mortal Kombat, properly. If you read this, you will understand how things work out here in the Fighting Game world. If you were into a martial art, then consider the fundamentals as the most basic stuff in martial arts. Note that the move inputs in Mortal Kombat are different from the other fighting games, so ask around to help you understand what any input means and how to think of this accordingly.

After reading the fundamentals, go train with Lasher Takeda. You can ask around in these forums: https://testyourmight.com/forums/takahashi-takeda.428/ to help you out with Lasher Takeda. Or if you ever pick Sub Zero, here are these forums: https://testyourmight.com/forums/sub-zero.403/ .

So do yourself a favor and stop playing the online games for a while. To make yourself a pro like the rest of us, you need to train with your character, have a certain mindset to know how to deal with each opponent, meaning to have a tactical and strategical mind, and have good reactions and reads. To acquire them, you need to find good players in your country to train you and explain you how things work, such you need to tell us where you are from, so that we may help you out.

In this video, what you showed was the bad read. A good read is to see your opponent's animation doing a punch or a kick, so you know where you need to block (high or low). A good reaction is to know how to evade a dangerous move or doing a counterattack (in Mortal Kombat X, as of the last patch the counterattack is now dubbed Kounter).

It will take you awhile to get used to it. If you learn your character's moves, and then watching Takeda's combo videos in Youtube, you will most likely recognize the moves and think of your own combos, like every pro do.

Nice post. Might want to tag the op too though

 

[Tanno]

Nice post. Might want to tag the op too though

Would love, but can't...

@Eldriken ? Can you tag the OP?

 

[Eldriken]

@Bhagwad, you've been summoned.

 

[Bhagwad]

To add this:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary_of_fighting_games

(I wish I could find a proper site to help you out more)

This full list of Fundamentals will help you out of how to play the fighting games, such as Mortal Kombat, properly. If you read this, you will understand how things work out here in the Fighting Game world. If you were into a martial art, then consider the fundamentals as the most basic stuff in martial arts. Note that the move inputs in Mortal Kombat are different from the other fighting games, so ask around to help you understand what any input means and how to think of this accordingly.

After reading the fundamentals, go train with Lasher Takeda. You can ask around in these forums: https://testyourmight.com/forums/takahashi-takeda.428/ to help you out with Lasher Takeda. Or if you ever pick Sub Zero, here are these forums: https://testyourmight.com/forums/sub-zero.403/ .

So do yourself a favor and stop playing the online games for a while. To make yourself a pro like the rest of us, you need to train with your character, have a certain mindset to know how to deal with each opponent, meaning to have a tactical and strategical mind, and have good reactions and reads. To acquire them, you need to find good players in your country to train you and explain you how things work, such you need to tell us where you are from, so that we may help you out.

In this video, what you showed was the bad read. A good read is to see your opponent's animation doing a punch or a kick, so you know where you need to block (high or low). A good reaction is to know how to evade a dangerous move or doing a counterattack (in Mortal Kombat X, as of the last patch the counterattack is now dubbed Kounter).

It will take you awhile to get used to it. If you learn your character's moves, and then watching Takeda's combo videos in Youtube, you will most likely recognize the moves and think of your own combos, like every pro do.

Wow, that's a large appendix. I'll be sure to go through it. Thanks a lot for the help! I've been watching Takeda combos videos and got a few nice ideas like canceling into a special from d+f1, and mixing up the high low game.

But I still regularly mess up combos is actual play, even though I can do them just fine in practice mode. That's one reason why I still need to play online - the adrenaline rush forces errors. Like when I play the piano alone, the piece comes out fine. As soon as I have a real audience, my hands sweat, and I mess up stuff. The only solution to that is to burn the combos in even harder into my mind, and play regular people online...

Right now I'm still at a stage where I'm learning everything I can do with my own character, as opposed to what the other guy can do. Some stuff I get form painful experience of course, like in the video Jason has some weird move that reverses the controls!