A letter to "pandasmshr"

A letter to "pandasmshr" from Xbox LIVE

Dear Pandasmshr,

You asked what you were missing. Quite a lot. You are what I like to call a "standard" intermediate Abel. You know how to mixup and how to get damage, but beyond that your game is very basic and predictable. Here are some examples.

1) Jump/Roll/Dash

You are dependent on these. I want you to watch your match videos online. How much of your offense is generated by a jump, roll, or dash? Usually the answer will be "most of it" for 99% of Abels. That's a problem.

If your offense begins with these then you will NEVER beat a good Bison, NEVER beat a good DeeJay, NEVER beat a good Zangief, and many other bad matchups will be insurmountable as well. You have to learn how to win simply with walking and normals. If you can't, then you won't get any better. All you'll beat are online warriors who LET YOU jump at them, LET YOU roll at them, LET YOU dash at them. We had something like 40 matches, right? How many did you win using this approach, maybe 3 or 4? You can expect matches against other good (offline) players to be similar if they have good reactions and footsies.

As an exercise, in our matches, think about how many times I walked up to you and hit you with Juri's crMK. Why did this work? Why would you, the defender, press a button at that time allowing me to hit you? And how can you discourage me from doing that? Once you understand these things and the decisions that players must make at these crucial junctures, you will be able to turn that knowledge on me.

Indeed, you don't NEED to be good at this to win online. But that's why you have to aim higher. If all you do is things that work online, then once again, you won't get any better. Stop winning because you're Abel and your opponent happens to suck. Start winning because you're better than your opponent, and Abel provides the finishing blow. If you need more help with the ground game, read this: http://sonichurricane.com/?page_id=1702

2) Anti-Air

You anti-aired my jumpins maybe 15% of the time. Most of the time you blocked my normal. This is terrible. Every time you block a jumpin a throw/frame trap mixup occurs (against somebody who knows how to do it, anyway), and this is where I got a lot of my damage. If you take away my jumps as Juri then I'll have to grind you down very slowly with projectiles and pokes. But you didn't take away my jumps.

Stop using crHP. It's good, but it'll kill you against certain characters whose jumpins can beat it clean. Use crMK, MP Falling Sky, or jump away HP more. Use crHP when you have an ultra 1 stocked to make it more worth the risk.

3) Juri's close MK

Is throw invincible. 100% of the time I empty jumped at you, you input a standing throw when I landed. That's silly. Get rid of that reflex. It will kill you at top level. It's a great option because it beats most things, but not everything. A better reflex would be to anti air me. If it's not possible because you are knocked down, try a focus or a backdash.

Juri's close MK is throw invincible. If I empty jump, press MK when I land, and you input a standing throw, then I will hit you. Do something else, or I'll just do this all day.

(By the way. If the people you play against do this, take advantage of it. Land a knockdown, jump over their corpse, and right when you land input a meterless Tornado Throw. Free.)

4) Juri's close MP

Starts up in 3 frames (in v2012. It used to be 5f startup). If timed right, it will beat your (meterless) Tornado Throw, crLP, and crLK. If you attempt a close HP at the right time we will trade. To beat Juri's close MP (and other 3f normals they might try after step kick~dash) use a normal throw. If you predict your opponent will try jumping, backdashing, or teching the throw, you can go back to other options.
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To beat my Juri, you'll need to do the following:

- minimize projectile damage when possible
- avoid walking into my standing HK
- anti air my jumpins to prevent my offense
- slowly walk me to the corner OR make a read on my fireball charge/release and jump in
- not get hit by my crMK or crHK when I walk at you
- convert your F+MK hits into combos (with the link to close HP)
- guess right more (when I'm knocked down).

If you can do these things consistently, you will be much better at the Juri matchup, and most likely your other bad matchups as well. I wish you luck.

Sincerely,
Juicebox

P.S. Play KOF13 Goddammit.