Im ultra diamond so same boat but one thing id say has helped me a shit ton in diamond is learning to adjust my playstyle when the opponent gets V trigger and bait/counter activation attempts
#Trying to hit GM before SF6.
uneven carbon
R mika gets VT, you have her cornered, seems enticing to just try to finish her and be extra aggressive, get hit by a random cr hp xx activate, you die in two mixups ect. Learning to bait out the cr hp and whiff punish it before the situation even becomes dangerous
Baiting ryu sweep activate
Ect
Also stuff like v reversal’ing obvious TC acivation routes that will put you in a bad mixup situation, seth f mp TC into VT2 OB, dont hold stuff like or try to bait out f mp and whiff punish
Try to develop a gameplan/general awareness of every characters popular activation routes and figure out what you can do to avoid the situation or use their desire to activate against them
sturdy aspen
What's a good way to practice spacing/ movement? I definitely need to get better at whiff punishing and just being able to start my pressure properly. Maybe you could help me out with some replay analysis? CFN is Kratos-_-. It'd mean a lot. But yeah, I definitely would like to get better and reach GM before SF6.
Appreciate the advice too. I definitely don't think about stuff like that. I do pay attention to their regular meter. Just no V Meter. So thanks a ton!
uneven carbon
What's a good way to practice spacing/ movement? I definitely need to get better...
Well im a karin player, one thing i do is lab blockstrings that make specific things whiff if they try to take their turn back immediately - spacing traps. Like ryu for example, one of the most common ryu activations is sweep xx VT. Ryu players like to reversal sweep after a block string a lot and start the party that way. So i do the block string st lk st lk st lk > cr mk a lot against them on meaty when they have VT because it makes their sweep whiff by an inch, then i punish it with st hp. maybe try labbing stuff that way.
sturdy aspen
So I do lab spacing traps/ whiff punish setups. I just don't know what to do against players that DON'T retaliate right away. Maybe micro walk into a heavy button for a CC?
uneven carbon
Well it starts with having a baseline strategy
Then once you have that baseline idea what you want to do, you adjust it depending on the person you fight
sturdy aspen
The strategy part is where I'm lost as well
uneven carbon
Well for example if someone doesnt bite on the spacing trap right away, you can experiment with just how determined they are not to fall for it, walk an inch back into the range where they might press than back out, see if they bite the second time, if not maybe even try a third time or then walk up and remind them youre willing to take the space
sturdy aspen
Another certain playstyle I struggle against is players who whiff then will continue to press after. I try to go for a whiff punish and then I just get hit and combo'd
Which makes me hesitate to even walk in on them
uneven carbon
Yea that can be hard against certain characters, dont be afraid to just sweep whiff punish buttons youre not confident you can get other types of punishes on
Go for consistency
Or wait for them to whiff the second button
uneven carbon
@sturdy aspen
I was playing a sim just now, this came up. Kind of highlights what i was talking about earlier with baiting peoples vt activations out when you can
Took a little step back because i knew this guy wanted sweep xx VT super bad, never gave him the chance to do a thing
sturdy aspen
That was nice. I'll have to lab scenarios like that
uneven carbon
Its extremely, extremely helpful to have the awareness in those moments
sturdy aspen
How do I actually improve my movement though in neutral without relying on spacing traps?
uneven carbon
Its all awareness
Why are you moving
What button are you placing yourself around
Are you looking to whiff punish a gief st fierce for example
Standing right at the tip of its range so if he presses it you land the whiff punish?
hes not biting?
Move in to its range then out and check for a response
he might flinch and throw it when he sees you walk into that range momentarily
no bite at all? Advance and apply pressure to remind him he needs to throw it when you enter the space or youre going to gain ground and possibly threaten walk up throw ect
Always move with the intention of eliciting a response from your opponent
sturdy aspen
It's just how to move I'm confused about. Like do I just walk in then back immediately? Or should I walk in and crouch block for a few frames and walk back?
uneven carbon
Depends what youre trying to do like i said. If you want to gain ground on someone then yea, walk then crouch, walk then crouch, if you want to make someone whiff a button, walk in then out immediately