The Cross Counter Guide to Beating Your Friends-By Gootecks

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Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................................ 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................. 4 WHO IS THIS GUIDE FOR?..........................................................................................................................................4 WHO AM I?.............................................................................................................................................................4 WHY WRITE THIS GUIDE?.......................................................................................................................................5 LESS IS MORE....................................................................................................................................................... 6 THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE.................................................................................................... 7 THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING OTHER CHARACTERS......................................................................... 9 STEP 1: TRIAL MODE...............................................................................................................................................9 STEP 2: ANTI-AIR SPECIALS AND NORMALS.............................................................................................................10 STEP 3: LEARNING A CHARACTER’S BEST POKES.....................................................................................................12 STEP 4: WATCHING CHARACTER-SPECIFIC YOUTUBE VIDEOS....................................................................................13 HOW TO THINK ABOUT YOUR EX METER................................................................................................ 15 UNDERSTANDING WHY YOU LOST.............................................................................................................. 17 EXECUTION............................................................................................................................................................17 CAUGHT OFF GUARD/STUNNED...............................................................................................................................17 DIDN’T KNOW THE PROPER COUNTER/PUNISH.......................................................................................................18 COULDN’T REACT FAST ENOUGH.............................................................................................................................18 MIS-USED RESOURCES...........................................................................................................................................18 UNDERSTANDING RISK/REWARD............................................................................................................... 19 WHEN TO ATTACK................................................................................................................................................19 SITTING ON A LEAD OR WHEN NOT TO ATTACK....................................................................................................20 EFFORTLESS EXECUTION.............................................................................................................................. 20 TRAINING MODE....................................................................................................................................................20 MASTERING FOCUS ATTACK DASH CANCEL...............................................................................................................22 BREAKING DOWN COMBOS INTO SEGMENTS..............................................................................................................23 STICKS VS. PADS....................................................................................................................................................24 TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.................................................................................................................. 25 PLAYING ONLINE....................................................................................................................................................25 XBOX VS. PS3.......................................................................................................................................................25 HOW TO SWITCH TO XBOX 360 ON THE CHEAP....................................................................................................26 WATCHING ONLINE REPLAYS...................................................................................................................................26

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FINDING A LOCAL COMMUNITY................................................................................................................................27 WORLDWIDE COMMUNITIES....................................................................................................................................27 TRAINING/COACHING FROM A TOP PLAYER.............................................................................................................28 THANK YOU & FEEDBACK............................................................................................................................. 29 APPENDIX: SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4 RESOURCES............................................................................. 31 WEB SITES............................................................................................................................................................31 LIVE STREAMING....................................................................................................................................................31 TOURNAMENTS.......................................................................................................................................................32 YOUTUBE CHANNELS..............................................................................................................................................32

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Acknowledgements There are a few key people that I must thank first for their help in the creation of this guide. Cami Vicencio, for designing the cover and download page, thank you thank you thank you! As well as Gabriel Bell, for helping to edit! This guide would not have been possible without the inspiration of the Street Fighter community, who have all contributed to this guide in some way either by producing content, running tournaments, being a competitive opponent or just grinding on Xbox Live. Thank you also to the active members of the Cross Counter site as well as everyone that I have helped coach and train along the way. This guide is basically a compilation of everything that I have discussed in detail with you guys as well as my regular sparring partners.

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Introduction Welcome to the Cross Counter Guide to Beating Your Friends! In this guide, you’ll learn what you have to do in order to win more at Super Street Fighter 4. Who is this guide for? This guide is designed for the everyday player (aka YOU!) who desires to get better amongst their friends at home and online. I estimate that the casual player makes up at least 80% of the overall Street Fighter population seeing as how the game has sold millions of copies while only several thousand people regularly attend tournaments worldwide. The casual players (you guys!) are the ones that can benefit the most from learning the core fundamentals of the game that more experienced tournament players already understand. There is a strong possibility that you haven’t heard of some of the basics covered in this guide because there isn’t much material explaining it and it can be hard to find. You and your friends probably have gatherings every so often to play and chances are you aren’t the best among them and can't quite figure out why you keep losing to “the champ” of your crew. The good news is, unless your friends have natural or god-like skills and abilities like Daigo or Justin Wong, then your friends are probably easier to beat than you think. Hard to believe? Maybe, but it’s true! This also means that by integrating a few new concepts into your game as well as improving your fundamentals, you will be able to successfully and consistently beat all your friends and become the best in your group. Unless of course they are reading this guide as well. In that case, you guys are probably going to start training together to take it to the next level and start competing in tournaments with the big boys! Who am I? I have been playing Street Fighter competitively since 2003 and have entered, won and yes, even lost many tournaments all around the world including the United States, Japan and Sweden. I competed in Super Battle Opera 2008, the world’s most prestigious fighting game tournament in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and after that I started playing Street Fighter 4 and have traveled across the country playing against some of the best in the world. I also wrote another The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 5

strategy guide back then called The 3rd Strike Player’s Guide to Street Fighter 4. In addition, I have created and produced many Street Fighter events including Bar Fights, LA Riots, the Salty Suite and more. Currently (as of Fall 2010), I am one of the hosts of Cross Counter, a weekly Street Fighter show on Machinima, the largest gaming channel on YouTube. In addition, I am competing in tournaments regularly with Rose. But none of those things matter right now because I am going to share with you some of the things that we experienced tournament players know that you, the more casual player, may not know. Why Write This Guide? This guide took a fair amount of time to write and create and is distributed under the Creative Commons License. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. That means that not only is this guide freely given away at no charge, but it can also be translated into any language as long as you give me credit and release it under the same license. Feel free to send it to all your friends as well. So why give away something that clearly took a lot of time and effort to create and publish? Simply because it is my vision to grow the Street Fighter scene to the point where those competing at the highest levels can make enough money from tournament winnings and sponsorships to live a comfortable life without needing a secondary income from a job. Right now, most of the best players in the world are not currently devoting their full-time attention to playing and winning tournaments due to the fact that the prize money currently offered in most tournaments is not sufficient to make ends meet. The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 6

Other gaming genres like First Person Shooters and Real Time Strategy have plenty of players that win tens of thousands of dollars on a regular basis and I want that for the fighting game scene, Super Street Fighter 4 in particular. I believe the best way to go about this is to grow the tournament scene much larger than it currently is. In order for that to happen, the casual players must be better educated so they understand the game better and the beginning tournament players must have a stronger foundation. Some casual players will turn into the next generation of tournament players, while others will remain casual but will have a greater understanding of the nuances of the game. Either way, the scene becomes stronger from an influx of new tournament players as well as an influx of new fans/spectators that watch live streams of tournaments or watch them on YouTube. I believe that by educating the masses, we’ll have more people who will compete in tournaments as well as watch them the same way people watch professional sporting events. With that in mind, let’s get started.

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Less is More Like most things in life, in Street Fighter, less is more. But what exactly does that mean? It means that you’re probably trying to do too much when you’re playing. You’re probably trying to beat the other guy before he beats you using the most advanced combo you know, in the fastest way possible, in a flurry of button presses and special moves! But what you have to understand is that this game does not reward such hastiness and recklessness. Maybe you’ve played other fighting games where the faster you move or the more buttons you press, the more you win. However, Street Fighter simply does not work the same. At the highest levels of competitive play, Street Fighter can be a very slow game because both players know exactly what their options and counters are at every moment of the game. At the lowest levels of casual play (which is probably where you are right now, just sayin’!), although it might seem like those tactics work, the fact is that if you were to play people that were slightly better, they would destroy you for your recklessness and lack of knowledge. So how do you get more out of less in Street Fighter? The answer is simple. You need a mindset shift that proves to you that the game is not about killing the other guy, it’s about keeping yourself alive. You may not have really thought about it before, but you must know that when the timer runs from 99 to 0, whoever has the most life left at the end of that period is the winner. Yes that sounds obvious, but think about that for a moment. You don’t actually have to BEAT the other guy, you just have to prevent him from beating YOU. All you need is a pixel more life than he has when the time hits 0 and YOU WIN! Now I know that you’re thinking that sounds like a boring way to play, but I’m not suggesting that you block or run away for 99 seconds every round. I’m simply suggesting that there is another way to think about winning! Think about any number of kung-fu movies you may have seen before. Think about the scene where the hero climbs to the top of the mountain to face the The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 8

old grandmaster. In their first encounter, the inexperienced protagonist tries to overwhelm the master with a flurry of attacks. The master easily deflects and defends against every attack efficiently and with little effort. Why is he able to defend so easily even though the young hero is attacking him as furiously and quickly as he can? The answer is simple. The old grandmaster has more experience and has seen everything the young hero could possibly attack him with before and understands how to properly defend and counter the young hero’s every attack. This can easily be applied to Street Fighter. You’re obviously not a grandmaster but neither are your homies, so you only need to understand how to defend against and counter what they are throwing at you, which leads us to the next section on defense.

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The Best Offense is a Good Defense Have you ever heard that phrase? It’s usually thrown around in professional sports and it totally applies here believe it or not. But wait, it’s called Street FIGHTER, not Street HIDER! You may be thinking, “If all I do is sit there and block, won’t I be a boring player? How will I do damage if you’re always blocking? How will I win if you don’t do any damage?” The answer, of course, is that you’re not going to spend the whole game sitting there blocking, you’re just going to learn how to defend BETTER because right now I’m willing to bet your defense is less than stellar. Your friend that keeps beating you probably has a few moves that you either don’t know how to defend or can’t react to fast enough. But that’s okay, it takes time. Next time you’re playing, think about the grandmaster at the top of the mountain. Fight with as little movement and button presses as possible. That means you are not going to dash up and try to overwhelm your friend with your amazing combos that you spent so long practicing in training mode, nor are you going to try to land all your combos by jumping in. The master at the top of the mountain wouldn’t do that would he? Of course not! He would patiently stand there and wait for his opponent to run at him so he could counter the attack. He wouldn’t jump at his opponent to attack would he? No because jumping requires to much energy because he could just walk towards his opponent. Walking requires less energy and is safer and more efficient. Now back to defense! When you’re blocking, you don’t take any damage from normal attacks. That means that you can sit there and block forever if your opponent is not doing special moves, throws or overheads. All you do is hold Down-Back and watch him tire himself out mentally and get visibly frustrated because he’s not doing any damage and you’re not pressing any buttons. You’d be surprised how long it takes most casual players to realize that you’re just sitting there blocking The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 10

and that their attacks are doing no damage at all. It usually takes two or three sequences of blocked attacks for your opponent to realize that he should attempt to throw or overhead you. At that point, you’re already doing better than you were before! Street Fighter is sometimes likened to a game of fast-paced Rock, Papers, Scissors so let’s look at it that way for a moment. Rock = Blocking Paper = Throwing Scissors = Attacking Simple, right? If you know your opponent keeps throwing out Scissors, all you gotta do is keep throwing out Rock! Once he sees that Scissors keeps getting beat by Rock, he’s going to switch to Paper, obviously, but you’re ready for that aren’t you? You can neutralize Paper with Paper or cut it with Scissors! Or in Street Fighter terms, if he keeps attacking, all you have to do is keep blocking. Once your opponent realizes that his attacks are doing no damage, he’s going to try and throw you, but you’re ready for that right?! You can tech throws with your own throw or, depending on the distance, use crouching Light Punch (LP) or Light Kick (LK) to push him away. Now that you have a better appreciation for the merits of blocking, it’s time to think about the match from the opponents’ perspective.

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The Importance of Learning Other Characters One of the reasons you’re probably losing to your friends is that they are using a character you yourself don’t play. You might think that you know everything there is to know about your friend’s character because you guys play all the time and he always beats you with the same things, but the truth is that you can’t truly know a character without putting some work in yourself using that character. The main reason you should do this is because it’ll give you an opportunity to put yourself into your opponent’s shoes and have a better understanding of their mindset and tendencies in different situations. It will also give you a better understanding of their capabilities from various ranges around the screen, which is crucial in being able to defend against your opponent. Learning a new character can be done most effectively by following these 4 steps: • Learn all or most of the character’s Trial Mode combos. • Learn and practice the character’s Anti-Air moves. • Learn the character’s best pokes. • Watch a definitive tutorial video on YouTube. By following these five basic steps, you will be well on your way to understanding any new character you choose to learn, which will help you immensely against your friend that you keep losing to! These steps should also be followed for your own main character! Now we will go more in-depth into how to go about performing these 4 steps. Step 1: Trial Mode By going into Trial Mode, you will be guided by the game itself as to how each character should be played. It starts off by making you practice the character’s normals and special moves and then transitions into combos. Each level has a particular area of focus such as: • a combo you can use when jumping in • a combo you can use if they whiff a risky move such as a Shoryuken or Flash Kick • a combo you can start from close range • a combo you can do with one EX Meter The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 12

• • • •

a combo you can do with 1-3 EX Meters a combo you can do with a full Super Meter a combo you can do when you have an Ultra Meter a combo you can only do in the corner

It would be helpful to write down these combos into a notebook and label them accordingly so that you will know when to use each combo. Knowing which combo to use in any given situation is crucial to winning. It’s not enough to be able to do these combos once or twice in Trial Mode. It is important that you practice the combo enough times to be able to do it consistently ten times in a row. Of course, if you’re just learning your friend’s character so you’ll be able to beat him easier, you don’t really need to be able to execute it ten times in a row perfectly. Being able to do it three or four times in a row in Training Mode should be sufficient for you to both respect the difficulty of the combo as well as understand the range at which the combo can be performed successfully. Step 2: Anti-Air Specials and Normals Anti-air moves are moves that you use when your opponent jumps at you or attacks you from the air. For example, Ryu’s Shoryuken is probably the most well-known anti-air move in the game. It beats nearly any jumping attack from most ranges, depending on which punch button you use to execute it. But you knew that, right? But did you know that Ryu’s LP Shoryuken is not as effective as his MP Shoryuken against jump-ins? If not, then that is a perfect example of thinking that you know more about a character that you don’t play than you really do. What if you’re playing a character like Cody who doesn’t have an obvious antiair special move? In these situations, you have to figure out which of your normal attacks are supposed to be used as anti-air. Cody’s MP is a very effective anti-air in most situations, it just doesn’t do a lot of damage.

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The best way to figure out your anti-air normal(s) is by utilizing Training Mode. Perform the following: 1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

Start Training Mode and choose the character you are learning first and your main character second Pause the game in Training Mode and go into Training Mode Settings Set action to Record You now control your main character and record him doing his most effective jump-in attack several times Pause the game again and go into Training Mode Settings Set action to Playback

Now you are controlling the character you are learning and the dummy is your main character jumping in on you repeatedly. All you have to do now is try each of the six buttons to see which one knocks him out of the air most consistently. Make sure to also try each button while crouching because often those work the best. Once you’ve found the normal(s) that work the best, see if you can find another button that works better from a different range. It’s important to be very conscious of the range at which each button works because they will always be jumping at you from different ranges and you need to have the right anti-air in mind at all times. Here is a list of common characters’ anti-air moves. Character Anti-Air Special Ryu/Ken/Akuma Shoryuken Balrog Headbutt Blanka EX Vertical Ball Rufus EX Snake Strike Guile Flash Kick Rose Soul Throw Cammy Cannon Spike M. Bison (EX) Head Stomp

Anti-Air Normal D+HP D+HP, MP D+MP, HK D+MP, HP D+HP D+HP D+HP D+HP, HK

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Step 3: Learning A Character’s Best Pokes Learning a character’s best pokes is critical to winning. A poke is another word for a normal attack that is generally quick and safe. It’s called a poke because you can throw it out there safely while zoning your opponent with very little risk. This is Street Fighter 101 and is considered one of the basic concepts a player needs to know in order to be successful at a competitive level. The characteristics of a good poke are as follows: • It must be fast enough to not be punishable by your opponent if it’s blocked. • It must have good range. • It is an added bonus if it is able to cancel into a special move. Figuring out a character’s best pokes can be done in Training Mode. Perform the following 8 steps: 1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

8.

Start Training Mode and choose the character you are learning first and your main character second. Pause the game in Training Mode and go into Training Mode Settings. Set the action to Record. You are now controlling your main character. Record him pressing LP five times, then D+LP five times. Pause the game again and go into Training Mode Settings. Set the action back to Playback. Now that you are controlling the character you are having trouble with, go through each button, both standing and crouching, and figure out which button beats your main character’s LP and crouching LP. It is important that you write these down! Repeat the process for each standing and crouching normal attack

Whichever button(s) that you find beats your characters pokes the most is probably that character’s best poke!

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Here’s a short list of common characters’ best pokes. Character Best Pokes Ryu/Ken/Akuma D+MK, D+MP Balrog LP, D+LP, MK, D+MK, HK, D+HK Blanka D+MP, D+HP, D+MK Rufus MK Guile D+MK Rose D+MP, DF+MK, MK, D+MK M. Bison HK, MK Cammy HK, MK Step 4: Watching Character-Specific YouTube Videos Lots of people recommend watching YouTube videos in order to get better at Street Fighter, but how do you know which ones to watch? There are SO many videos out there that it’s simply not possible to watch them all, nor should you attempt to! Most are match videos from tournaments or casual sessions, but these aren’t the ones you should focus on right now. The ones you should be watching first are tutorial videos. There are tutorial videos for almost every character, you just have to do some digging on YouTube. Here are some tips for searching YouTube: 1. Use search terms like “ssf4” or “sf4” (yes, Vanilla SF4 tutorials are still useful!), “tutorial” plus a character name such as “ssf4 rose tutorial” 2. Try sorting by View Count as well as Rating; sometimes Relevance just doesn’t cut it! There are plenty of high-quality, in-depth character specific tutorials out there. Here is a short, incomplete list: • • •

Rose DeeJay: Basics | Advanced Cody The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 16

• • • • • • • • •

Adon Makoto Juri T. Hawk Ibuki Akuma Vega Chun Li Blanka

What makes these videos excellent is that they’re not just showing you how to do combos, they explain WHY each move is useful and how to set each of them up.

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How To Think About Your EX Meter What goes through your head when you have EX Meter? Do you try to save it for a FADC? Do you try to save it for your Super? Or maybe you don’t think too much about it at all. If you’re not making conscious decisions with your EX Meter, you’re missing a huge part of your game. EX Meter should be thought of as your “money” or “resources” in the game. Similar to your minerals and gas in Starcraft or maybe even a grenade in an FPS (I’m not an FPS guy, don’t shoot me lol). Or maybe you can think of it as going to the store in an RPG to buy a new potion! Your EX Meter buys you additional moves, setups and opportunities aka options! Let’s take a look at a few characters’ new options when they get their first EX Meter: Character Ryu Balrog Rose Guile Zangief

M. Bison E. Honda

New Abilities With EX Meter EX Fireball can score a knockdown because the opponent can no longer Focus Fireballs without risk EX Dash Punches all have armor which allows them to go through many normals and projectiles EX Soul Spiral has start-up invincibility which makes for a good wake-up “get off me” move EX Flash Kick has start-up invincibility which makes for a good wake-up “get off me” move EX Banishing Flat goes straight through Fireballs from a longer range than normal Banishing Flat does and scores a knockdown EX Psycho Crusher has armor which allows him to easily get out of the corner EX Headbutt is a very safe wake-up The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 18

Blanka Can now go through Fireballs

Can now get out of trouble on wakeup

option due to its start-up invincibility EX Ball goes through Fireballs E. Honda, Ibuki, Seth, M. Bison, Cammy, DeeJay, Cody, Akuma, Guy, Blanka, Zangief, El Fuerte, Vega, Balrog, Fei Long, T. Hawk, Adon, Rose Gen, Juri, Abel, M. Bison, Rufus, El Fuerte, Rose

Every character gains an additional option with two EX Meters: Focus Attack Dash Cancel. These are used both on offense and defense depending on the character and situations. Offensive Example: Ryu absorbs an attack with a Level 2 Focus Attack, then dashes up and does Shoryuken -> FADC -> Ultra. Defensive Example: Ryu does a wakeup Shoryuken ->FADC then back dashes after his opponent knocks him down to get out of trouble. Note: Not all characters really benefit from being able to FADC. Balrog, for example, has very little use for FADCs. If he does a Dash Straight xx FADC dash in and tries to throw or continue his offense, it’s very easy for the opponent to see it coming. Below are some examples of characters who would have useful FADCs: Uses for FADC Character Get out of trouble with Uppercut Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Dudley, Seth, FADC Back Dash Akuma, Dan, Sakura, C. Viper, Sagat, Cammy, Guile, Fei Long, Adon, Rufus (3 meters) Uppercut or similar juggle into Ryu, Ken, Dudley, Sakura, Chun Li, C. FADC Ultra Viper, Sagat, Cammy, Cody, Guile, Rufus (3 meters), Adon The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 19

Although all characters have a Super Combo, some characters’ Super Combos don’t provide them with additional options or capabilities, they just are higher-damage versions of their EX or non-EX Special Moves. For example, Balrog’s Super gives him the new ability to go straight through EX and regular Fireballs from relatively far away, effectively shutting down the opponent’s Fireball game. Also, he can cancel far MK into Super, which is one new weapon added to the arsenal. Credit for that one goes to Justin Wong! On the flip side, Zangief and T. Hawk’s Super both are just high damage versions of their Spinning Piledriver and Mexican Typhoon, respectively. They don’t gain any new setups with their Supers, but they gain new capabilities from their EX Meter. If you’re playing a Fireball character against Zangief, once he gets one Meter, you can no longer throw Fireballs at him from nearly halfscreen because the EX Banishing Flat goes straight through it. T. Hawk’s EX Condor Spire also goes through Fireballs, although its range is not as long as the Banishing Flat. This means that some characters have more to gain from saving their Meter for a Super than others do. Don’t do another EX move without fully understanding which side of the fence your character is on!

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Understanding Why You Lost Understanding why you lost is crucial to winning more, no matter who you’re playing. It’s important to learn from your mistakes, otherwise you will forever be stuck where you are. But knowing exactly what went wrong can be tricky when analyzing your own gameplay: namely because if you knew what was going to go wrong in the moment, you probably wouldn’t have done it! Here are several reasons why you may have lost: Execution This is definitely one of the most common reasons why players lose. No matter how much you know about the game in your brain, that’s completely separate from being able to execute moves and combos effortlessly. When thinking about a loss, think about 1-3 moves or combos you failed to execute properly and then go into training mode and practice them until you can do them 10 times in a row. That’s literally the kind of time that a lot of players will dedicate to improving their execution. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you have good execution if your Input Display is messy and ugly. Do yourself a favor and go to the Replay channel, watch some high level Japanese play and see how clean their inputs are. And if the words Input Display don’t mean anything to you, then your execution could DEFINITELY be better since you don’t know one of the most useful features of Training Mode. :) Caught Off Guard/Stunned Sometimes your opponent hits you with a setup you’ve never seen before and you’re like ZOMGWTF while getting hit by a Raging Demon or a random Shoryuken ->FADC ->Ultra. That’s okay, everybody gets hit by things they’ve never seen before. There’s no shame in losing to tactics you’re unfamiliar with. However, once you’ve gotten beat by it the first time, it’s up to you to figure out what to do next time you see it again. That means you need to breakdown exactly what it was that you got hit by. If you’re playing online, watch the The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 21

replay (you know about the Replay Channel, don’t you?). If you’re playing in person, asking them what they just beat you with is a good start. Writing down exactly what you just got beat by makes it a lot easier to remember the next time you play that particular character or player. Didn’t Know The Proper Counter/Punish Sometimes you lose because you didn’t know how to counter a move. Perhaps your opponent had great footsies and was terrorizing you with one or two pokes. This is just another hole in your game that you have to fill. Going into Training Mode to figure out counters is a great way to learn from mistakes. For example, maybe you got hit by Zangief’s Lariat one too many times. Set Zangief to record the punch Lariat over and over in training mode and then try all of your normals, standing and crouching, to see which one beats it. Then record the kick Lariat and do the same. It takes several minutes to go through all the moves, but it’s time well spent because you will now forever know how to counter the Lariat and all future Zangiefs you play will have to deal with it. Couldn’t React Fast Enough Not being able to react fast enough is definitely something that can easily be blamed on lag if you’re playing online. But even if you’re playing in person, it is still possible to not be able to react fast enough to what your opponent is doing. This usually means that you were either unfamiliar with the option they were going with or you were too close to them to react. If your opponent is constantly jumping at you and you can’t anti-air with one of your normals, you’re probably standing too close and should back further away. Inexperienced players tend to jump a lot and if it frustrates you that you keep getting hit by it, you should recognize that this is your fault so you should stand further away so you have more time to react to their jump-in. Characters like Rose, Guile, Dhalsim, and Balrog have very solid anti-air normals and a sweet spot that they can stand at which gives them enough time The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 22

to react. This sweet spot is usually between a quarter and halfscreen screen away. Characters with Uppercuts like Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Guy, Adon can also stand at a similar range and usually have a long-range poke that they can use to keep the opponent at bay while baiting them to jump. Knowing your ranges is very important. Mis-Used Resources Other times you lose because you spent your “money” on the wrong things and didn’t have Meter when you needed it. This is the Street Fighter equivalent of blowing your paycheck on a wild night on the town on a Friday night when you know you have rent to pay on Saturday. If you waste your EX Meter going for extra damage instead of saving it for an opportunity to go through a Fireball or safely Uppercutting on wakeup via FADC, you might find that when you look back on your loss, you might wish that you had done things differently. Saving your Meter for the right opportunity requires patience and practice to pull off. For example, if you’re Ryu and your opponent is Balrog, and you use your Meter on an EX Fireball about halfway through the round before you have Ultra, you’ll have to build up another Meter before you can Shoryuken ->FADC to either land the Ultra, back dash to safety on wakeup, or when Balrog is pressuring you. Furthermore, you’re one meter further away from having Super which gains Ryu at least one new setup (cross-up Tatsu -> Super) as well as shuts down Balrog’s Dash Punches and sweeps due to its Reversal capabilities. The same goes for using your Ultra too early. If the Ultra isn’t going to take at least 35% of their remaining life, it’s probably better to save it until it will.

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Understanding Risk/Reward This section could also be called Understanding When to Attack/When Not to Attack or even Understanding When to Block/When to Hit Buttons. Understanding risk/reward is critical to becoming a better player. Risk/reward is a complex subject in Street Fighter that requires game knowledge as well as knowledge of the opponent’s mindset. The game knowledge that you must have when calculating risk/reward effectively includes understanding what your opponent’s options are in any given situation. You must know their safest option, riskiest option, as well as the option you consider to be most likely based on their tendencies. Once you know his available options, you can then choose the option that is in favor of you. When To Attack To put it in the most simple of terms, you should attack when it is in your favor and not attack when it’s not in your favor. But how do you know where you are at any given moment? By taking the following things into consideration: • your character’s abilities and tendencies • their character’s abilities and tendencies • who is in the life lead and by how much • EX Meter of both characters and what options it affords • Ultra Meter of both characters and how it will affect the match if an Ultra connects Here is a list of questions to ask yourself before you attack: • If this attack hits, what will I do next? • If this attack whiffs or he blocks, what is the most damage he can possibly punish me with? • If I take the maximum amount of damage, will I still be ahead in life? • Which of his attacks will counter mine and what will they cost him e.g. 0 Meters, 1 Meter, 2 Meters, 2 Meters + Ultra, Ultra, Super? The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 24

Sitting On A Lead or When NOT to Attack Sitting on a lead requires patience and confidence in one’s defense. Inexperienced players oftentimes will gain a significant life lead (usually more than 35%) and then continue to attack when the opponent has two Meters and an Ultra. It sounds silly when you think about it logically, but a lot of players aren’t thinking. When you sit on a lead, your aim should be to do damage while incurring the least amount of risk possible. You can do this by using pokes from their max range, staying on the ground and focusing on keeping them at bay. When you’re sitting on a lead, you don’t attack them after a knockdown. That would be risky because they can probably do a wakeup Uppercut FADC Ultra and then score a knockdown and continue to apply pressure. Blocking and defense become far more important when sitting on a lead. Hitting buttons while sitting on a lead can only make things worse. Unless you’re playing a large character, it’s usually better to back dash to safety when your opponent is on the offensive while you’re sitting on a lead. There’s no shame in back dashing several times in a row in order to restore the space between you. Characters with fast back dashes like Chun Li and Rose should be abused to their fullest capability in order to preserve the life lead. It’s mentally tiring to chase a character that is fast, has a good back dash, and is in the lead. By running away effectively, you reduce risk, keep your lead, and frustrate the opponent.

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Effortless Execution Execution is a topic that a lot of players overlook the importance of. Knowing what to do in your mind is completely different than actually being able to do it when it counts in a clutch situation. Effortless execution takes a lot of practice and the internalization of a few key concepts. Training Mode This is simply the only way to get good at execution. Trial Mode is great for showing which combos are for various situations, but you can’t just hit them once and think that you can do it all the time, especially in clutch situations against in-person opponents. Training Mode must be utilized correctly in order to improve execution to the highest level. The recommended settings for training mode are as follows: • Action: Stand • Quick Stand: On • Stun: None • Super Meter: Refill • Revenge Meter: Refill • Input Display: On • Attack Data: On Action should be set to Stand unless you’re practicing very specific attacks such as an air-to-air juggle. Quick Stand should be on so that you don’t waste time waiting for the opponent to get up. These seconds add up over the lifetime of your Street Fighter career. Stun should be set to None because you don’t want to accidentally dizzy the dummy halfway through a complicated combo and have to start over. Super Meter should be set to Refill when you’re practicing techniques that require Meter such as FADCs or Super Combos. The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 26

Revenge Meter should be set to Refill when practicing your Ultra. Input Display should be set to on so that it’s easy to pinpoint where you are making execution error. Your Input Display should be as clean as possible, meaning pressing as few directions and buttons as possible for every given attack/combo. For better or worse, Super Street Fighter 4 has very lenient input shortcuts that allow players with poor execution to pull off relatively complicated combos with relative ease and a little mashing. This is a great way to give casual players a taste of pulling off damaging combos, but unfortunately can become a crutch if the player never learns how to execute properly. One way you can tell that your execution is sloppy is by turning on Input Display and looking at excess inputs. By making a conscious effort to be more mindful of each button press and joystick motion, your execution will naturally improve. Attack Data should always be on so that you can familiarize yourself with the amount of damage your combos are doing as well as the amount of Stun. Remember that most characters have 1000 hit points, so a combo that does 350 points of damage is 35% of their life. Mastering Focus Attack Dash Cancel The Focus Attack Dash Cancel (FADC) is one of the more difficult techniques to master in the game. It’s very powerful because many characters can combo their FADC into Ultra such as Ryu, Ken, Cammy, Rufus, etc. Mastering the FADC means that you will have a lot more opportunities to do major damage and get yourself out of trouble. There are lots of situations where feeling comfortable and confident in landing an FADC Ultra can win you the game, while missing it will cost you the win. Here is the motion I use to do an Uppercut FADC with Ryu, Ken, Akuma, The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 27

Cammy, etc: Forward, Down, Down-Forward, Forward+HP, Forward+MK+MP The reason this works is due to the following: • the inputs in SSF4 are lenient enough for the Uppercut to come out when I hit Forward+HP; it’s not necessary to hit HP at Down-Forward • the command for the FADC is embedded in the Forward+HP and Forward+MK+MP commands at the end You are essentially combining the Uppercut and FADC into one fluid motion. The best way to master this technique is to practice it repeatedly in Training Mode. Do the following: 1. 2. 3.

4.

Start Training Mode and pick the character of your choice with an FADC Set the Training Dummy to Block and walk him into the left corner Set Super Meter to Refill and then do your Uppercut FADC repeatedly against the blocking Training Dummy until you get to the other end of the stage Repeat the same process from the right end of the stage to the left

This will allow you to practice the motion repeatedly without wasting time on doing the Ultra or waiting for the dummy to get up after a knockdown. Your goal should be to do the Uppercut FADC ten times without error before trying to land the Ultra afterwards. Breaking Down Combos Into Segments Many combos are complex and require several steps in order to perform correctly. Attempting to do a multi-step combo without breaking it down into segments is sure to be a frustrating experience. Let’s look at an intermediate combo as an example:

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Ryu: Level 2 Focus Attack, Dash Forward, D+LP, D+LK, D+HP xx HK Tatsu This five-hit combo can be broken down into the following segments which can be practiced individually: 1. 2. 3.

Level 2 Focus Attack + Dash Forward D+LP, D+LK, D+HP D+HP xx HK Tatsu

You could even segment it further by practicing chaining D+LP and D+LK together as well as linking D+LK and D+HP. An effective way to master this combo is to practice each segment until you can do it ten times in a row separately. Once you are able to perform them separately, you can begin to combine each segment. This means that you should be able to Level 2 Focus Attack and dash forward ten times in a row before you start trying to hit D+LP, D+LK, D+HP. But once you master that, then you would do the D+LP, D+LK, D+HP segment ten times in a row before moving on to the D+HP XX HK Tatsu segment. All the while you should be conscious of the Input Display and making sure that you are not adding in excess button presses or joystick movements. Sticks vs. Pads This is a good place to talk about the pros and cons of using a joystick such as the MadCatz Tournament Edition Fight Stick. Although definitely not required to be good at Street Fighter, purchasing and practicing with a joystick is a choice that the vast majority of the best players make. The reason for this is simple. Some advanced execution techniques are simply easier to do on a joystick than they are on a controller. Double-tapping and plinking are both advanced execution tricks that can be easily performed on a The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 29

joystick (and beyond the scope of this guide), but are not practical on a controller. Although there are a few top players that do prefer a pad to a stick, they are in the minority. Most players that I see using pad are using the Mad Catz Fight Pad, probably because the six buttons are laid out in two rows of three, same as the Fight Sticks. I recommend the Mad Catz Tournament Edition Fight Stick. It’s what I use and I have no obligation to recommend it, but it is what I use and I prefer it to other sticks. The Standard Edition is a cheaper alternative, but the Tournament Edition is almost universally preferred amongst the best players.

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Taking It To The Next Level By now you’ve learned a few things and are working on implementing them into your game. The techniques contained in this guide should be enough to get you thinking about how you can become the best amongst your friends. But what if that’s not good enough and you’re ready to take it to the next level? There are thousands of players out there who you can compete with to step your game up so let’s take a look at some of the ways you can do so. Playing Online Playing online can be a double-edged sword. It can be one of the best ways to train or it can be one of the worst. Playing online can help your game tremendously because it exposes you to a worldwide player base at different skill levels; beginners, intermediate, advanced and everyone in between. It can hurt your game, however, if you play exclusively online, because of several factors: •

•

•

The lag when playing online affects your game by making you think that certain tactics work, when in fact if you tried them against an experienced opponent in person, they wouldn’t work The lag can also severely affect your defense, namely because what seems to work best online are offensive rushdown tactics since you have less time to react due to the lag Playing offline helps develop your ability to read your opponent because you’re sitting right next to him

Xbox vs. PS3 A lot of people get stuck on whether they should be playing on Xbox 360 or PS3 and let their pre-existing console preferences get the best of them. The game is essentially the same on both systems. Yes, the graphics look slightly nicer on PS3 and yes, Xbox runs a frame or two faster. Ultimately, however, neither of these issues are the REAL issue as to which system is better. Of course if you’re only going to be playing offline, money is not an issue and you want to be playing on what is considered the tournament The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 31

standard, PS3 is the way to go. If you plan on playing online, I must urge you to play on Xbox Live (XBL) because it is simply near impossible to improve while playing on the Playstation Network (PSN). The reason for this is that in general, connections are better on XBL than PSN. Lots of people will say that they don’t want to pay for XBL because playing online is free on PSN, but in this case, you get what you pay for. The $5 per month it costs to play on XBL is well worth it because the connections on PSN are terrible. I don’t know for sure why they’re terrible, but I have to assume it’s because Sony hasn’t invested as much time and effort into making them better, which is probably what Microsoft has been doing with everyone’s $5 every month since the console’s release (just sayin’!). In addition, PS3 has a wireless networking adapter built in, which is great for streaming media around the home but terrible for playing SSF4 on. It’s very common for PS3 players to be playing via WiFi, but not so much for Xbox players due to the WiFi adapter being an optional accessory. In addition to the connections being better, XBL has another advantage which is that all the systems come with headsets. Yes I know that you can connect a Bluetooth headset to your PS3, but who really does that? It’s common on XBL to have a full Endless Battle room with everybody talking over the headsets. It is beneficial to you as a player to be talking with other players while playing to share ideas about what works and doesn’t work. Yes of course there are some idiots out there that just use the headset to trashtalk, but I find that it’s very rare and far more common for players interested in improving to have headsets and be willing to talk. How To Switch to Xbox 360 On The Cheap So let’s say that I’ve convinced you to switch over to Xbox, but you’re tight on cash. Pretty much everybody is right now. Here are some links to get you switched over for as little money as possible: The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 32

• • • •

Xbox 360 Refurbished - $109.99 via Gamestop Super Street Fighter 4 – Used - $24.99 via Amazon Mad Catz TE Stick - Used - $104.99 via Amazon Xbox Live Subscription - $46.89 via Amazon

Total: approximately $287, not bad! I’d say that’s well worth it if you’re serious about stepping up your game. Also, that’s nothing compared to the amount of money that some of us arcade players have spent in quarters over the years! Watching Online Replays The Replay feature is definitely one of the best new features of Super SF4. Watching your replays is a great way to learn from mistakes as well as think of new ideas against players and characters you’re having trouble against. When playing online, all of your games get recorded as Replays and you can save them permanently to your console to watch later or share with friends. Simply go into the Replay Channel -> Battle Log to find your own replays. It’s also useful to watch others’ replays, especially those out of Asia, who generally have stronger players than North America. When watching replays, make sure to turn on Attack Data and Input Display when watching so you can see if there were times that you almost had the opponent stunned but didn’t capitalize and see if they were a button masher or turbo-user. Here is a list of things to look out for when watching replays: • What tricks or tactics did I fall for more than once? • Were there any moves that I tried to punish incorrectly? • Did I panic at the end of any of the rounds? If so, what were the consequences (losing the EX Meter advantage, dying faster than I should have, etc.) • Was there an opportunity to win that I missed or squandered?

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Writing notes on your Replays, especially your losses, will help you retain more about why you lost and what you can do to improve. Finding A Local Community Playing in-person is without a doubt the best way to improve, but unfortunately this can present a problem for those that live in areas without a large, active community. This is because you can get feedback from real players about your game as you’re playing. Getting feedback is not always practical online and with issues such as lag and relatively poor matchmaking capabilities, playing real opponents in person is always preferred. The best way to find local communities in your area is definitely to hit up the Shoryuken forums in the Regional Matchmaking section. In addition, here is an incomplete list of active communities around the world: Worldwide Communities • The Box Arena (San Diego, CA) • Keystone II (Northern California) • LightDash | Bitter Harmony (Sweden) • MTLSF (Montreal, Canada) • Oz Hadou (Australia) • The Backyard (Peru) • Neo Empire (United Kingdom) • Portal Versus (Brazil) • Ranking Battles (Norway) Training/Coaching From A Top Player One of the fastest ways to improve your game is to learn from someone who has a lot more experience at a competitive level. Although it’s not free, it’s definitely a good investment to your game because experienced tournament players can quickly spot holes in your game as well as tell you exactly what you need to improve upon. Without the coaching of a top player, you could go weeks, months or even years without truly understanding the nuances of the game as well as missing out on an opportunity to learn the types of tips and tricks that you can only learn from years of experience. The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 34

In addition to myself, there are a number of players out there who currently offer personal training such as: • Mike Ross • Justin Wong • Marn • Filipino Champ Contact them directly for more information or hit me up!

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Thank You & Feedback Thank you for taking the time to read through this guide. I’m sure there are a few things that I forgot to mention, but I think this is a pretty good start for you. If you enjoyed this guide, you can support my work by buying a physical copy or by sending a donation. I always enjoy reading feedback on my work so if you have questions, comments or suggestions for updates or other guides, please send an email to: [email protected]. Also, you can follow what I’m up to via the following channels: • CrossCounter • Gootecks.com • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube Keep an eye out for updates to this guide as well as other content I’m producing. Thanks again for reading and good luck!

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Appendix: Super Street Fighter 4 Resources There are some amazing resources out there that are always producing quality SSF4 content that can help you improve. Here is an evergrowing list: Web Sites • I Play Winner - In addition to being a great source for fighting game news, they also produce great content such as character guides and produce live streams of tournaments in Northern California. • Event Hubs- This is by far the best source for breaking fighting game news including tournament results, game updates and notable videos. • Option Select - These guys have produced lots of great character-specific tutorials including Ibuki, Cody and Juri • Get Your Tournament – Glenn provides in-depth tournament coverage as well as statistical analysis articles on players. • Shoryuken– The largest fighting game community on the internet. Large media section, active forums and the weekly Wake Up Shoryuken Podcast. • Sonic Hurricane – Amazing combo videos and the Footsies Handbook by Maj • Cross Counter – The home of my weekly YouTube show on Machinima Respawn with Mike Ross. Also a great place to meet other players who are playing seriously. You can create a blog, upload your videos and connect with other players via XBL and PSN. Also, I host regular training sessions Live Streaming • Team Spooky • I Play Winner • Level Up • GODSGARDEN Tournaments • West Coast Warzone – The largest major fighting game tournament in California. Look out for West Coast Warzone 3 January 14-16, 2011! • The Underground Tournament League (Los Angeles, CA) The Cross Counter Guide to Beatng Your Friends – htp://crosscounter.tv 38

• • • • • • • • •

GODSGARDEN (Japan) Super Battle Opera (Japan) Evolution (Las Vegas, NV) Final Round (Atlanta, GA) Devastation (Phoenix, AZ) Season’s Beatings (Columbus, OH) NorCal Regionals (San Jose, CA) SoCal Regionals (El Segundo, CA) Northeast Championships (Philadelphia, PA)Dreamhack (Sweden)

YouTube Channels • Vesper Arcade • OneHandedTerror • SonicHurricane • LordOfUltima • Cross Counter

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