The FITE LAB: Post and talk about your fighting game matches

Fighting games tend to be full of interesting edge cases or rules interactions that we don't necessarily think about, but there's usually an internal logic that makes it make sense.

lol I'm bad at Strive part 24: Wait, What?



In this case, both me and my opponent were taken by surprise when they used Yellow Roman Cancel to defend against my Orca super, and the Orca *kept hitting them* even though I was knocked to the ground.

I was at work until 4am last night because the grave shift guy hurt his back, but I still managed to get something uploaded.

lol I'm bad at Strive part 26: Slaying the White Witch



I've started processing these videos in 720p instead of 1080p to save rendering time, hard drive space, and upload time, but lemme know if the quality suffers too much.

lol I'm bad at Strive part 28: Revenge for Mr. Dolphin

I'm slowly starting to get better at defending against Leo's mixup game, but he can still catch me with those crossups.

That whole "wall" thing I was talking about - I used to use it all the time with sweeps.

It is absurd how poor basic defense used to be with SF2 and Mortal Kombats. Sweeps didn't just win me matches, they basically were my primary offense because they would catch people who would refuse to block low or were just careless. Heck, it was even easier to block sweeps in Mortal Kombat!!

Even people who can put a combo together don't always have even basic defensive awareness. It's like watching a wrestler who can perform 720 flips but don't know how to take a basic snapmare bump 😁

It's even more mystifying when someone who actually gets the concept of mix-up somehow totally fails in blocking sweeps when its their turn to get tested.

And it's almost lunacy to watch someone use a player like Guile and have problems blocking sweeps. Like dude, that defensive crouch should be your home for most of the match! If you aren't blocking sweep, that means you aren't charging your specials!! What, then, is it that you are doing!? 🤪

My defensive sweep game was always tight because it was often the default position I had the controller in. The only time that was a real liability was during cross-ups or if I had to quickly block a high-to-low move or a quick jump kick off a short hop from King of Fighters.

You'd beat me heartily but I wouldn't disappoint you on the fundamentals 😄

I haven't played a Guilty Gear game in a decade. 

If I were to play you right now out of the blue, here is exactly what would happen.

This is my "first time playing a new fighting game" approach.

I'd find the closest thing to a Ryu-like character - I think that's Sol Badguy in GG.  This is purely a learning excursion. I haven't mained a pure Shotokan since Alpha 3.  Gouken was my main in SF4 because of his special counters and rush-down moves (....similar to Geese Howard) rather than because of his fireballs and special DP. 

I'd create as much space early on as possible then test out fireballs. I'd get a feel for the speed/heft of the game and see how you'd react to them. I'd then try to adjust while a) finding out what other good specials and quick/range normals my character has while b) hoping that you don't pull out a strategy or feature (like a "Custom Combo") unique to this series or specific game that I'm completely ignorant of.   Chances are, you would achieve that well before I find my reliable anti-air normal or quick mid height roundhouse kick that retracts before you can punish it! 

All the while I'd be blocking solidly and getting a feel of the overall rhythm of the game and your tendencies. 

By the end of the first match, hopefully I'd get enough of an idea of how the game plays that I feel ready.

Then I pick the grappler. And that's where the real fun - "empty jump nightmares" - begin 😁

Does Guilty Gear have characters with special counters?  I'd go for them too.


I actually checked PSN Store last night to see if there was a deal on the new GG but there wasn't. I thought it was Summer Sale but maybe not for GG yet...ever?  I don't think my computer could run it well on Steam.  It couldn't really run SF5 at all and struggles with KOF 2002 so eh? 😥

I doubt I have the hand speed for that anymore 😁

If Anji has special/command counters, I'd probably gravitate toward him.

I remember using Potemkin a long time ago and not fully taking to him but I'd give him another try.




That's really cool and says a lot about the approachability of Guilty Gear - which definitely goes against the common narrative for the series. I think learning the name may have been the hardest part there 😄

I spent a couple hours last night practicing the May vs. Chipp matchup in Guilty Gear Strive. Over the course of about 30 matches, I went from being completely bewildered and scared to do anything to able to at least grasp the basics of Chipp's offense and what to do about it. Here's how it looked by the time I was done:

lol I'm bad at Strive part 32: Fly Like a Dolphin



Chipp is so damn fast that I had to rethink a lot of my general approach. A lot of the offensive pressure I apply isn't true blockstrings and that's a problem against Chipp because he's so fast he doesn't need to be afraid of any of that. I still do a couple remarkably dumb things in this match (note that Red Roman Cancel into uh nothing in round 1), but overall I feel way more comfortable with this matchup now.