Excersize: had to do some sprint circuits for my workout today. it was tough, i kept wanting to quit, but kept pushing myself. even with that i still only finished half of it before my legs were jelly and my lungs collapsed. gonna have to do the bonus runs at the end of my regular workouts more often to build up that stamina.... either way, rest day tomorrow, then 1 more sprint circuit, then i start a new phase! this last phase took twice as long as it was supposed to(2 months instead of 1), because of my lack of discipline. this one i am going to try to complete before EVO! (mid july). that will give me a couple bonus days if i accidentally miss some due to whatever scenarios occur.

KOF: also i am learning hwa at a decent rate. i tried him when i first started KOF, but the inputs required were beyond me. since my execution has gotten better, this time around it's much easier. ill probably practice his combos one more time and then ill jump into matches with him.

BB: my hazama is getting much stronger! i feel it. ive been learning how to actually keep pressure with him, and it feels pretty fluent in training mode atm. going to need to do some matches with him soon, too!

GG: no GG, yet.

SF5: havnt played SF5 as much lately because of these other games. played against my local Zangief player. in USF4 he was REALLY strong, but he's had a harder time adapting to sf5. but i think he is starting to catch on a bit more. i feel he should be able to go toe to toe with me, but ive been beating him too convincingly...i hope he gets stronger, soon.
regardless, i actually was able to implement some new strategies very effectively! couple things i've been meaning to do
1. use overhead in footsies, especially after building up their white life. Vega's overhead has alot of reach so it's good for that
2. dash under jumps when they are too close to AA. my zangief friend realised what space i couldnt AA him reliably from, and that was pretty much near my cr.MP(Claw) range. once i realised that was what he was going for, i was able to instantly adapt and start dashing under him. at first, since i play that match with claw on, the only combo i was getting was cr.MK, cr.MP. which was only like 100 dmg. pretty weak.. that technique seems stronger in clawless. however towards the end i was getting under and doing st.HP(claw) xx MP ASE, and it was working! that is much more rewarding.

very happy to get those two things in my repertoire. interestingly enough they came about after relaxing the hours i was playing. i guess giving myself more time to think seems to help my game improve quicker. which is actually what i was hoping would happen.
i will have to turn up my SF5 practice a little more some point before EVO, mainly to make sure i am comfortable in all my matchups. since there are not too many characters, i think i actually have decent practice against most of them, save for the new characters Alex/Guile that not alot of ppl seem to be playing. ill have to really think about those ones.

This post was edited by nate321 on Jun 6 2016 04:17am

work's been busy, it's looking like a 50 hour week, but still trying to get a few hours of gaming in a day.

-bought new gym equipment. about $330 worth. olympic dumbells, since i already had alot of plates for it, but still had to buy several more. they gave me a bunch of free little things, like a tshirt and waterbottle and that nonsense. a keychain that says Hayabusa, which actually looks pretty cool. idk what that is, tho. probably some MMA equipment company is my guess, altho to me its the name of the joystick i use in my arcade stick!

-bought GG revelator! doing jack-o trials atm. she is super cool.

-still not much sf5 lately. once i get a grip on these other games ill get back on it

- i am ready for some BB sparring! gotta get together with my anime friends soon!



~jsut had to pick up my mom and sister from the pub...now back to what i was doing

my sleep schedule is all over the place...accidentally oversleeping too often. it's ruining my daily free time to play. this week is the least amount of gaming i have done in like..2 years, i think.
can't get too upset or it will make this last work day drag out. Maybe i should figure something else out.

-ithink for my run bonuses after workouts, i should only do if i have alot of time. yesterday i did it even tho my main workout went into my nap time, and ended up going to sleep 1 1/2 hours late, which might be what threw off my night. the run takes about an extra half hour, i think.
2nd of all if i work a late day and get home at 530, i gotta start my workout RIGHT AWAY. so that with anyluck i am not going to far past 7pm. after all, the run bonuses are well..bonuses. if i started right away, and didnt do run bonus. i could have ended it almost 45-1hr earlier than it did and i probably wouldnt have slept through my alarms.

-i am going back to playing sf5 every day i think. at least a little bit everyday. i want to be able to run a ft5 or f10 against ppl, watch replays and study my mistakes, and then move onto another character or game.. my goal is to practice learning in multiple ways
-for new games i need to not allow myself be intimidated by mechanics. i need to start implementing them all ASAP so that i can understand the game sooner.
-this weekend i want to get alot of strong gaming in...make up for lost time this week. i hope next week isnt this busy >_<

let's go, one more day!

worked 6th day straight. gotta work a 7th tomorrow, but i am going to be getting a bonus for it, and apparently a raise soon. so that's pretty cool, i guess.

jjust finished playing a set(FT10) vs a Plat ken that i have faced before. he beat me last time, i forget the score. iirc roughly 10-6 or 10-7 or something..
this time it was a draw. the game D/C'd when he was winning 5-4, so then i changed the lobby to FT 5 after and won that 5-4. so 9-9 this time, but it feels like a win.

biggest success: i was dashing under his air tatsus and punishing alot of them for it
biggest flaw of the set: i was eating jump ins while holding forward, with the intention of dashing under..but just reacting slow because im a bit sleepy, also just eating them while crouching because i derped and didnt move my stick fast enough to stand block in certain situations.... i lost several rounds due to this..

other pros
-i was able to use overhead a bit in footsies, but i still wasnt using it enough. only in phases as i remembered to use it. i suppose one problem for that was that he wasnt ever on the ground long enough for me to strongly implement it.
-did a FBA setup off a CC sweep for the first time, and it worked...

other flaws
-i wasn't able to open him up with shimmys. couldnt get a strong enough read on him. in hind sight i should have been throwing him more.
-i was only partially adapting to his offense. he did the same offensive string quite often, which i could have used those opportunities to counter him. i started trying to a bit at the end and got only 1 success iirc. just wasnt sharp enough or perhaps brave enough.
-my corner defense was still a bit weak..i definitely need to sharpen that up. it might be the weakest part of my game.


other sf5 stuff:
I gotta develope a game plan to fight chun.
against FB character i like using Claw stance, as it gives me a really strong range to utilize, that beings just outside their footsie range. this applies to ryu/ken/nash
against chun li, however, her footsies go just as far as Vega's Claw stance, coupled with a super cancelable st.HP and a FIREBALL, i simply cannot win at this range reliably. while my MP buttons are still very good, they arn't going to win me the match..they may have a use in the matchup still, but i am not sure when to use it. i can only imagine it being useful when she does NOT have super stocked, as playing at that range is just too risky at that point..

i think in order to win this, i need to optimize his clawless game...she has no meterless DP, so my clawless pressure is a bit stronger against her than the Shotos. my walkspeed is also a bit faster than hers, and i have a further throw range than her. i need to get in her space and STAY there. let her burn her bar on EX SBKs for all it matters.

ideas for getting into her space?
-sweep, duhh. i should only need a couple of these to conquer her in the neutral game. even if she catches on, to stop it she is going to have to crouch block more, making her less mobile, allowing me to roam free

so what do i do with that freedom exactly?
-either stay out of her range completely, or walk forward into st.MP(clawess) range. or even cr.MP range. i definitely have the walk speed to slip in there between her buttons. she might stop me once in a while, but hopefully just not while she has super. TBH, when she has super stocked, i am not too sure how to safely fight her. really, there probably is no way to safely fight her at that point, meaning i probably need to make her burn that bar with EX SBKs as i mentioned earlier. i will have to be fearlessly aggressive early on and probably eat one or 2 of those so that she doesnt have it at the end.

must utilize
-V TRIGGER! this is big. i have to have this towards the end of every round. reason being? as the round gets tight, and i dont want to be taking too many risks with slides and what not, i simultaneously do not want to be having to deal with fireballs. so that means i need to build it, and i need to preserve it(meaning..probably dont use it as a combo ender unless its going to help close out a match, and means try to avoid using V-Reversals)
i gotta stop using v-reversals especially in corner!. it doesnt fucking help. it does on occasion, but only a early game gimmick. ppl are catching onto it already.
also even MID screen..i think v-reversaling may not be all that great. yeah it gets me safe, but it puts me away from her, where she is happy to have me, anyways. if she gets in, optimally i want counter her offensive but slipping a button through her pressure. a GAMBLE for sure, but being close to her is where i think i need to be anyways. i will refine these notes and try them out against my friend, soon.
in the past i was well aware that my success was much much higher when i didnt use claw. but i thoguht maybe i could make it work if i practiced it. after alot of practice, i have come to the former conclusion once again

This post was edited by nate321 on Jun 12 2016 04:00am

watching CEO this weekend. EVO is just around the corner. iam getting excited for it!

need to spend time analyzing matchups..but i am being stubborn trying to learn kof13...that game is just TOO sick. started learning Mature and she is just so cool.
CEO is pretty hype. i need to make some huge improvements fast in both games, and i think i'll be able to. starting to really enjoy myself and these games.

Hello, i havnt written in a while. quick catchup:
i under performed at EVO. got eliminated by a necalli i put into loser's bracket earlier on. i know i am a better player than he was, but he bested me when it matter. good for him. ill come back stronger
after EVO, my gf visited me for about 3 weeks, so i havnt been playing games. she just returned home now, though, so i now have time to start training again!
went to an anime convention(while gf was here) and won an SF tourny there. none of the strong local palyers came out, though. only some of the more casual ones, and alot of randoms(like 40 ppl). i won a little cool trophy and a waifu doll(from some jrpg idk-_-?)

started practicing BB more seriously. started making steps towards learning matchups.
practicing a bit of KOF14 atm, this game is fun! i think i am going to enjoy it. Shun'ei is so powerful!!
monthly coming up in Vancouver at the end of the month. going to compete in at least BB & SF. not sure if ima do KOF right away as it will have just been released...altough ill be in the same boat as everyone else, i suppose. ill decide when the time comes. afterwords i want to grind my way to Diamond league in SF5. and then after that i will grind KOF until BBCF gets released. then grind that for a month, and then try to find a balance.(something along those lines.....)

played vs my brother in TMNT Touranment fighter on SNES. it was funny. donatello is OP! he has a vega slide, a fierce as deadly as adon's round house. strong AA normals and e.honda hands, as well as a slow&fast fireballs. i was legit just doing Ryu fireball traps and AA'ing jumps. such a complete character LOL. also his jump in was broken..couldnt tell where it was going.

anyways. my goal is to juggle these 3 primary games competitively. doing so i am hoping it will force me to learn to use my time better, making me stronger overall. also for the sake of taking time to enjoy the fighting game genre more broadly. it's all for fun and learning experiences. i think it will be better for me in the long run! i am going to try not to plague myself with the worry about the doom of time that seems to gloom over me constantly. "am i using time efficiently? what if i am still not strong 3/4/5 years?" etc etc. i need to just enjoy more, and just keep learning! results will come naturally. as long as i keep treking, i'll get to where i want to be.

This post was edited by nate321 on Aug 12 2016 02:48am

today was a good day off.
did my workout, ate well. looking forward to getting back into routine, regenerating my foundation.

went over noel as a character in BB. she is crazy. so many drive moves and followups. so hard to keep up...but i got to understand a little bit more about her, so that's good.
played a few ranked sets today for the first time in a while. first set was REAL close, vs a ryu. it got my heart racing. lost the first match, barely won the second. after that my heart was racing and i had to take the whole 10sec count down for rematch timer in order to calm down a bit. then i went on to win the 3rd match a bit more convincingly, but still tough. after that i did another set later on vs a 10k Chunli. it was SO free for me. he won 1 round cause i used the wrong combo ender and he was mashing super...and then i let the rest of the round slip. but that was it. i felt pretty good after that. then a bit later i faced and 11k Bison and i absoulutely destroyed him 4 rounds straight. it was extremely satisfying, because that has previously been one of my demon characters to face.. i played almost perfectly. calm, collect, blocked things i needed to block, rather than challegeing. converted well and read his defense pretty strongly. overall gave me about 400 LP in a mere 3 sets. it gave me a ton of confidence in taht i should be able to reach diamond without too many problems.

aside from those matches i took time to review some replays of players. i need to start studying players. it wont be as much help at first, but as i get better at it i hope i will be able to become very strong at picknig up player habits quickly.

i am considering grinding for ultra plat tomorrow...if i play well, it shouldnt take too long. but if i run into some odd matchups, it might prove troublesome. the matchups i played today might be my top3 most played matchups, so winning them isnt a big surprise. i might be getting ahead of myself if i run into some of the bulky grapplers..

work has been super tough this week! also trying to keep my workouts in check as well as been exhausting. fell asleep at 6pm last night and woke up at 430AM. oh well at least a get a few hours of gaming before i gtg to work.
might grind for diamond this weekend.
need to keep doing BB character reviews so that i can fly out the gate when CF drops.

1 more day of work!!! THEN THE WEEKENDDD WEOOOooOo as long as i dont have to work it >_>

played ranked throughout the weekend but didnt do well. just bounced around super platinum. looks like i still have alot to learn. back to the drawing board

KOF coming out in a day or two

work week starting..dunno what itll entail.

sleepy

have coffee

a bit demotivated and unsure about what to do. i'll figure it out. i always do.

need to make sure i keep working out. that should help keep my mentality in check a bit.

KOF 14!! This game seems so cool.

Also a tournament this weekend. Going to see how well i can learn this game until then.
My starting team is going to be....Kyo/Benimaru/Mature ...tentatively. at least maybe just for this weekend. might change it up after.

Also my recent goal for gaming...is to pay as close attention to every single detail that happens in a match and keep my mind as clear as possible(EVEN RANKED, even if i lose at first). I want to learn improve more over 1-5 matches than someone does in 20 from brainlessly playing.
In fighting games, the stronger and cooler mind is what prevails. i need to train myself in that aspect more than anything.

EXERCISE !! i have been slacking and demotivated lately, so that suffered with it. gotta keep on top of that. it needs to continue to be my foundation. everything else will crumble if i can't keep ontop of that.


also did a bvb tourny thing...got 3rd. i think it's the first tournament ive actually played in. may have done a ladder at one time, but dropped out for sure.
they even made me a trophy CX


This post was edited by nate321 on Aug 24 2016 05:05am