In my previous article I wrote a quick introduction about what I consider to be a common myth among fighting game players. It is that idea that one can only get good at games if he puts tons of time into it and that improvement is only correlated with the amount of time that is spent on the game. “Oh he plays all the time, that’s why he’s good”.

If you believe that to be true, answer me this question:

How come do some players reach top levels of play in only one or two years while others are still stuck at low/mid levels after five or six years?

There are people who will tell you it is a matter of talent. Talent may play a part but is in no way the end all be all behind improvement. I will explain why later in the article. There are also people who will tell you it is a difference of mindset. That statement is completely true. However, not only is it not the full answer, but it is also quite vague. How does knowing you might have a bad mindset help when you are not exactly sure what a good mindset is?

In reality, if you are able to use your time more efficiently you will notice improvement in your game at a much faster rate than usual. Far too often do we see players who do nothing but waste their time away playing matches without putting any real thought what they can do to fix areas of their game.

In this article I will outline some of the ideals that I believe help contribute to a good mindset for improving at fighting games. I will also outline a few methods that can help maximize your improvement within the time constraints of your day to day life.

Five ideals you have to embrace

Before we start things off, let me just say two things. First off, don’t be a scrub. All of these ideals are null and void if you have any of the typical symptoms of the scrub. It is extremely important to be honest with yourself and your shortcomings as a player. There are many articles out there that treat about the topic of scrubs (for those of you that have not read it, I would suggest to check out Sirlin’s article).

Secondly, if you are one of these players who argue that they are just “playing for fun”, fair enough. But in this case, do not complain when you keep losing or are not improving. I’ll let you in on a little secret though. Winning is fun.

1. Play to learn, not necessarily to win

This is the number one crucial rule when it comes to playing outside of a tournament environment. When you do not believe you have achieved a level that satisfies you as a player and you are still willing to improve, you must accept the fact that winning is not the priority. You must accept the fact that you have still much yet to learn.

There are often cases where the two philosophies of playing to win and playing to learn clash. If you only play to win, you will often end up being content with defeating opponents but not necessarily be willing to experiment with new tools. And experimenting is exactly what allows you to make strides in fighting games. On the other hand, experimenting during matches might make you lose more often because you are not necessarily making optimal choices against specific players. The way I see it, winning is the final goal, but learning is what helps you win more against better players in the long term.

Many lower level players I encounter and play casuals/friendlies with try . their hardest to win. More often than not, when they close to doing so they tell me “man I was so close”. But usually I wonder if they have truly learned anything or whether they are being delusional and confuse blind luck with actual improvement. On the other side of the spectrum, there are mid or even high level players who like to brag about defeating other players (generally of lesser level) in a very convincing manner (a “perfect” in Street Fighter or a “4 stock” in Melee perhaps). This translates to a rather dubious mindset where beating someone “really hard” is more important than getting some knowledge from it.

Trial and error is key. Every time you face someone, you should have some new things you want to try. If it means using a move or trying a setup over and over again in a variety of situations, that is fine. Sure, it may or may not often or it even may look a bit silly or disrespectful to the opponent, but the goal here is to learn. However, every experiment requires a critical evaluation. You have to be able to tell whether something is useful or not while still keeping an open mind, which leads me to my next point.

2. Always be critical and always ask questions

Every time you experiment with something, you have to interpret its answers. This allows you to gauge the efficiency of whatever you have experimented with and then decide whether you want to apply it to your overall game plan or not (the game plan which you would then use for tournament play/playing to win).

Sometimes, the answer is a rather obvious “yes” or “no”. But this is definitely not as simple as it sounds and is also where a lot of mid level players will falter. They might often make a lot of wrong or misled interpretations.

Example:

(USF4) You are testing out anti airing with Ryu’s cr. HP ; in some occasions it works (the opponent is in range of the anti air or presses a button from far), in others it whiffs (the opponent chooses to empty jump).

Misled interpretation: “cr. HP is not a good anti air because it can whiff sometimes”

Correct interpretation: “cr. HP is a good option if the opponent jumps and I position myself at a spot where he cannot possibly avoid it, even with an empty jump.” or “I have a good read on the fact that he will always press a button while jumping so I am not too worried about empty jumps.”.

Fighting games are often subject to ambiguity. There are few pure “yes” or “no” answers when it comes to many aspects of the game, in fact I would say there are more “maybes” and “perhaps”. It is important to make sure you have put a reasonable amount of thought before jumping to any conclusion.

You may notice that the one of the correct interpretations involves a “read” on your opponent himself. This is what makes fighting games interesting. They are two player games. They involve a battle of minds. A huge part of it is figuring out how your opponent thinks and then picking what you believe to be the correct options against him. I am using the word “believe” because you can never know for sure. In situations where it is necessary to guess, it is impossible to make perfect predictions all the time, especially not against capable opponents or players you have never faced before. Things that work on Daigo may not work on EvilDan666, and vice versa. The best you can do is an educated guess, which comes with a lot of experience in critical thinking against a variety of opponents.

Lastly, be open to advice from other people. Other perspectives are vital in giving you a different outlook on the game, which can sometimes help you in your thinking.

3. Strive to understand the game that you play

Nothing should be a secret to you. Especially not all the universal mechanics of the game you play. You have to be as familiar as possible with its terminology/language/slang. You should try your best to understand how frame data, hitboxes/hurtboxes, invincibility, etc. works.

You also have to be hungry for knowledge. Almost any knowledge is good knowledge and curiosity is your best friend. Ask questions about the game to your friends if you are not sure about something or discuss it with them. Watch tournament matches/streams on YouTube/Twitch, especially videos with commentary as those can feed you even more information.

Another important skill to develop is a solid vision of the game. The way I see it, most fighting games (especially the more traditional ones like Street Fighter) are designed with a sense of balance and logical solutions to problems. Most characters and moves will be designed with pros and cons. A good method to try and understand a game is to figure out its wheel of options and how they all beat each other.

An example could be the wakeup game in USF4:

Blocking is good against anything except throws/heavy chip damage

Instant crouch teching is good against throws but is vulnerable to early frame traps/meaties

Quick invincible reversals are good against meaties/early frame traps but can be risky against opponents that happen to block/delay frame trap/delay throw

Stand teching/buttons are good to take advantage of delayed frame traps/delay throw

The list goes on

This kind of thinking can be applied to many other aspects of any game and allows you to see the overall picture. Understanding the overall picture will also allow you to understand what it takes to become a complete player. If you cannot “speak” the game that you play, you cannot possibly formulate the steps necessary to find solutions to problems and thus improve.

4. Think about the game at times when you are not playing

A lot of the logical thinking and knowledge processing can be done outside of the game. It does not matter whether you are sitting in a bus, at school or at work, thinking about the game is helpful as it helps you develop ideas for the next time you will play (please do not lose your job thinking about video games). “Hmm… what if I tried this, maybe this would work”. This gives you a purpose and motivation for every next session you have.

Something I love to tell new players is how I have a sort of “emulator” in my head that can simulate Melee or USF4 rather accurately. I will sometimes have an idea about something in either game, then run it through my head and think whether it could realistically work. I am obviously not the only one with this kind of ability, and it is something you develop through experience with the game and good amounts of knowledge.

This is often a reason as to why it is possible to take a break and still come back as an improved player from it. You may have not been playing the game, but you have been thinking about it from time to time, which supplements your fresh outlook with new ideas.

5. Do not autopilot when you play to learn

Autopiloting occurs when you are playing without actively thinking about the decisions you and your opponent make. It’s like being in a machine-like state and it is crucial to avoid it if you are playing to learn. This can especially harm you as a player because you might unconsciously go for options that worked a specific player you practiced with a lot, but that will suddenly fail against other opponents because you have not put enough thought into the matter.

Going autopilot can serve a good purpose if you are playing tournament matches against weaker players as it can save your mental energy for the later stages. But outside of the tournament environment, you want to make the most of your time playing the game.

To avoid autopiloting, make sure you pay attention to detail and keep a notebook in your head for everything that you notice but even more importantly, everything you have trouble with. And remember these ideas that you were developing in your head at a time you were not playing? Try them out, maybe they are good.

One thing I can recommend is to play every match with a sort of goal or achievement in mind outside of winning. It can be for instance using a move successfully in neutral, punishing a common mistake by the opponent or landing a specific practical combo you have learned. If you are successful at achieving these little goals but lose anyway, it is still a rewarding feeling as you have learned to apply something new.

Three practical methods to use your time more wisely

1. Limit your amount of time spent playing matches

You do not need a hundred matches to understand what your weaknesses are and what it is you have to work on or think about. If you are serious about your improvement in whatever game you play, you should make sure that you are not using too much time playing the same opponents over and over again. Playing too many matches may lead to a saturation/deterioration of the thinking process and eventually autopilot, which is bad for learning.

Another important reason not to play too much is that the time you spent in fruitless extra matches could have been used practicing specific weaker areas of your game, which I explain in my next point.

An efficient way to avoid playing too much is by simply asking for a set. FT3, FT5, FT7, whatever floats your boat. This will allow you to limit your time with the game in a fun and efficient manner. Just remember that winning is not the main goal of the set.

2. Use time in training mode to practice specific stuff in a much shorter amount of time that you would have trying them in matches



I have touched upon it in my previous article and it is by far the most useful method to optimize your learning.

A lot of people only use training mode just to practice combos or punish game. Training mode in most modern games gives you the opportunity to practice anything and everything, most notably situations.

The first step is done before the training even begins. You pinpoint the “problem” that you usually encounter in your matches. This problem can be anything from a decision in the neutral game to your choice of moves in the punish game. Whether you notice it during the matches or later as you watch a replay/video of yourself does not matter, as long as you are able to correctly identify what it is. Once you do, you go to the lab and try to emulate the situation and find answers to it, after which you make a critical assessment if necessary. As I said in my previous article, instead of waiting for a situation to happen once in each of 100 matches, you are better off practicing that same situation 100 times to find a solution which you then incorporate into your muscle memory. You can achieve the same if not higher level of improvement in 20 minutes of training mode than you can in 5 hours of matches.

Even if you are playing with a friend, do not be afraid to ask him in the middle of a session to test things out together. Knowledge is almost always mutually beneficial, so if he is interested in improving he will generally agree to it.

It should all be a natural reflex. Something wrong? Practice.

Examples of proper training ethics:

(USF4) You are in training mode and just got done getting wrecked by M. Bison’s st. MK? Stop practicing combos and start practicing whiff punishing/stuffing Bison’s st. MK.

(USF4) Was this Zangief player constantly jumping at you and you were not sure what to do? Go in training mode, set up the dummy with record/playback, try out various anti airs and assess their efficiency at different ranges.

(Melee) Are you messing up shine out of shield as Fox against unsafe Falco aerials? Stop playing and ask your friend to do aerials over and over again on your shield until you get a bit more consistent at shine OOS.

Last but not least, do not waste time practicing things that do not help you. If all you want is basic practice for the sake of consistency, you are better off playing matches.

3. If you are not sure about something, look it up or ask around

Another considerable time waster for a lot of players are all those moments where they are confused/angry/unsure about something but are too lazy to take the short amount of time to figure out how it works.

There are generally two main ways to figure something out fast. Either you ask someone or you look it up.

It can be a test of humility to ask someone (especially if he is the person you are losing to) for advice/ideas, but it is often necessary so you have to swallow your pride. As for looking something up, this can involve anything from reading some frame data to watching a video of the match-up you just played to figure out how other players deal with the same situation.

The short amount of time you spend doing either will most definitely save you a lot of time wasted on butting heads with the same problems due to lack of knowledge.

Three facts you may be right about

1. Fighting games do take a lot of time to get good at

Yes, like almost any hobby you get into, it does take a considerable amount of time to get good at fighting games. It takes hard work and dedication. A lot of time has to be put into practicing all the basics, gaining an understanding of the game and acquiring the necessary match-up experience.

While developing a proper mindset and methodology/work ethic also takes time, their time saving nature makes it all the more worth it. The efficiency you gain from it can heavily cut the total amount of time required to reach the higher levels of play. This can mean years of difference.

2. Talent is real

Sometimes talent is a real factor. Some people are simply more naturally intelligent and may have innate ability to understand games faster than others. This sometimes allows them to bypass having a solid methodology or mindset. Often times a lot of the problem solving that most players would generally have to spend a good amount of time on thinking about is done in a rather automatic manner for the talented player.

However, this is by far the weakest excuse of all. I can guarantee you that you can at the very least get to a high level at a much quicker pace than you might think if you put in the work, have a strong mindset and are able to manage your time properly.

3. I really really do not have time or solid resources to improve with

Well, if you have a full time job, a family to take care of and other social obligations that do not mesh well with your gaming activities then I guess it can be difficult.

But even if all you have per day is an hour, you can still try your best to make the most of it. In these cases you have to make sure that every time you get an opportunity to play, you already have ideas on what you want to try out or what you want to learn. This is where thinking about the game at times you are not playing is really useful. Combine that with a good theoretical understanding of the game and you will be able to optimize your play time.

If you do not have a scene or at least friends to play with, then playing online (if available) is still a good way to find opponents and improve. If you do not even have a decent connection to do so, then yes… there is truly not much you can do.

Examples of an efficient 2 hour session

1. 5 minute warmup

2. 15 minutes of training mode for stuff you thought about while not playing

3. 75 minutes of matches

4. 15 minutes of testing situations that you found troublesome in said matches

5. 10 minutes of looking things up/watching videos/talking to friends

Obviously this does not have to be followed word for word. In fact, I would actually recommend interrupting your play in case something bothers you too much and either look it up/ask someone or go to training mode to find a solution on your own. The main point here is that you should always save some time for the lab as it is extremely valuable for you in terms of efficient learning.

That about sums it up. I hope you all had fun reading this and I hope that it was helpful to you!

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If you have any questions on improvement and mindset, or anything for that matter feel free to ask me questions on Twitter!

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