Of course combos are useful. Doing more damage, gaining more meter, carrying your opponent further towards the corner and possibly getting a setup afterwards are all great incentives for knowing at the very least some basic bread 'n butter-combos at some point. I just don't think they're the first thing anyone should focus on as a new player. You need to get your spacing, movement and neutral game down before you'll even be in a position to land combos.Maximum Bert said:
When I started out playing fighters about a year ago, I made that very mistake. I used a lot of energy on trying to learn combos in SF4(which has a horribly beginner-unfriendly combo system too), and got really frustrated that I had no chance of landing them in a real match because my opponents would either jump like an idiot(and let me kill him with anti-airs alone :V) or press some kind of normal whenever I tried walking up to him. Once I started figuring out that the best way to open someone up was to use normals to stop people from jumping and sweeping randomly, as well as just walking up and throwing people when they got too scared of pushing buttons, things got way easier, and I actually got possibilities to land some simple combos.
That's why I said that combos essentially is a non-element before you have your basic fundamentals down. That changes when you get to the point where you have a chance to land those combos, but you usually have a lot of work to do before you'll even be able to do that.
Well, she does have a couple of subtle weaknesses, actually. She doesn't build meter very well, none of her attacks are faster than 7 frames so she's susceptible to close range pressure from most characters, and she isn't as good as the other top tiers at opening people up. The last point doesn't say very much, considering Yu and Chie have vortexes that would make Akuma and Cammy from SSF4 go cry in a corner, Aigis has her sick mobility and Teddie is basically a Smash Bros-characters on acid.The Wykydtron said:
Of course, that doesn't really matter all that much. I usually describe Mitsuru as "3rd Strike Chun-Li with an aegis reflector", and that's basically what she is. Sick normals, great damage once she gets a hit in, and ending any combo with Bufudyne gives her a free high-low-mixup after taking 3500+ hp from you. She fits my playstyle really well, because I can just...
..well, kind of like that, actually, only I'm not actually zoning. I just make people respect my neutral game and think "ah crap, I can't attack this guy, I'll just eat dat sexeh rapier and take unnecessary damage", at which point I just run up and throw them to mindfuck them. At this point, most people are scared of both pushing buttons and of not pushing buttons, allowing me to rush them down, and blow them the hell up once they crack a second time.I only have real trouble with Kanji most of the time for some reason. I can sort of get by Mitsuru if i'm lucky. I loathe grapple characters in general. Thankfully Kanji has some easy to exploit weaknesses. They all like to mash the air grab... I crouch under it every single time. I get wrecked in the first round just to acclimatise to how decent the Kanji is then get into what I call *sigh* "Zoning Labrys" and win the next two with barely any health lost.
You literally sit the fuck down and spam her Persona moves to keep him away including traps. The upwards wheel thing 1. knocks him out of any air move and 2. if it misses Labrys is still crouching so you dodge the dreaded grab anyway. That wheel is also the opening for the combo that does almost half his health if you end it with a super. The medium standing Persona attack needs no explanation. It's fucking amazing in any situation
Then go in when he's real frustrated, go in with the sweep into overhead into super. I learned that stuff from Mu-12 already. People get pissed at Zoning and Keepaway so they get careless and stop blocking.
It takes time to whittle him down because all her combo pathways require you to be close and if he's in range for the grab that does half your health (you know the one) as far as i'm concerned you're doing it wrong. It's why I can't play Aigis so well vs him without maybe spamming the anti air cannon.
I HATE playing Labrys like that. She's supposed to just not give a fuck and run in... Nope, how to get yourself killed in seconds vs Kanji. :S
Heh, I remember the first time I played Persona. I managed to get two autocombos in, and suddenly I heard the announcer go U R WINNAR. Both me and my opponent were like "uh, what?", as we hadn't paid attention to the health bars, and neither of us were aware that Liz had that low of a starting HP. :V
That last scenario needs testing. Gogo training mode!
Btw, are you playing on XBL? In that case, want to take a round or two sometime? I can't boast being all that good, but that shouldn't be relevant :V
