So, as a help for new players/players that want to improve I would suggest a couple things. You don't need to do all these before the next time you play the game, but all of these things are required to have true well rounded improvement.
1) Learn the terminology. It's not that you have to have these memorized but there are several concepts you should learn as soon as possible like cross-up, hitstun/blockstun, and teching. It's not that you will be tested on them but you just might not be aware of these concepts at work in a fighting game.
2) Logic and Actions. People who win have very specific mindsets when playing that control their actions. Most things that you do while playing a fighting game should be calculated. There are points to be "Random" to prevent being too obvious to the other player and getting read for your next action, but in general all of your actions should be planned out. There are some excellent resources like this guide written by Patrick Miller from SRK. There's also this guide written by Excellent Adventures's Gootecks. I personally haven't read this one (and apparently he has another one that he's about to put up) but he knows what he's doing and it's also focused on SFV.
3) Learn your Character. It's more than learning what your special moves are. You need to know combos, stats like health and how easy it is to stun your character, proper execution and the general game plan for your character. If you are trying to play Dhalsim by staying right in the opponents face; you are playing wrong and you will lose. Bet you didn't know that Ken masters with his up close fire uppercuts actually plays a mean long range game. In general this comes from thinking about the tools your character has and how to properly apply them to a fight. There are several good resources including youtube and Shoryuken.com Character Discussion forum. In addition there is Frame Data for each character. It's basically a guide for when you might, can't and SHOULD attack the opponent. It's covered in the other guides and I won't waste the space but here is one of the best sets of data that's currently free.
ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS LIST YOU MUST PRACTICE AND PRACTICE AND PRACTICE AND PRACTICE.
If you can't do your own special moves or combos then how do you think you could possibly do better. That's not to say you should only play Training mode. By playing the game and getting better, you will then play against other players who are better and require you to learn more and more advance stuff that you will then practice to get down. Execution is huge in fighting games. Without a doubt this is one of the best games to actually get into as a player because the execution level is much lower than it has been before. In general you need to be able to do all of your special moves consistently, several BnB's (Bread and Butter or most common combos) and probably a max damage punish combo. Something when the opponent makes a real bad mistake (and they will) and you just get to go HAM on them and combo into a critical art or a sweet v-trigger combo.
3a) Chose your controller. At the end of the day if you don't have money for anything else, learning on pad is fine. I'm not saying you need to as there are plenty of pros that play on pad but there really is a good reason why most players play on stick. It just makes execution easier for most people. Check out Fry's or best buy and see if they have a stick in stock. Don't get a stick that's less than $80 regularly, they use garbage parts and the build is terrible. Something like the MadCatz alpha is just a waste of money because it's far too small to have the stable playing surface you want. Other than that as long as it works on your system and if you end up not liking it just return it. I will say that there is always an adjustment period that sucks transferring from pad to stick or stick to hitbox but you eventually get over it; also hitboxes are super viable. I can answer most hardware questions you might have. PM me with specific questions or make a post if it's a more general question.
IF YOU PLAY SFV ON PC! There are some problems with it supporting some controllers and sticks. Look it up before making a purchase as they haven't put out a statement on the fix's timeframe.
4) Learn the Other Characters. This isn't as important as learning your own character but it still helps to win games. You need to know the game plan of the other characters when they fight you. Zangief want's to SPD (spinning pile driver) you to death so one of the most important things when playing against him as most characters is to keep him further away than his SPD range. F.A.N.G. wants to poison you and let that do the damage for the most part BUT he has really good air projectiles for whenever you try to jump in so you have to play a better ground game to get in. Most of this comes with time and if you have the right mindset you will learn this during the course of playing naturally. It's still good to look at their frame data on which attacks (like a whiffed SPD or blocked F.A.N.G. thrust) are punishable.
5) Watch players that are better than you. Shoryuken and Event Hubs regularly list majors and tournaments happening around the globe with players that know what they are doing. Watching these are fun and exciting in addition to educational. There are also weekly hosted by LevelUpLive in Sol-Cal and Next Level in NY to check out. If you live in the area GO CHECK IT OUT. (Also we have meetups in Austin Tx at Arcade UFO and a private arcade in RR. PM me for details if you live in the area)
One of the best additions to SFV is the Capcom Fighters Network. This is an amazing resource that everyone should take advantage of. You can look up professional players and see how they fight. You can learn advance tech watching them or anyone who's high rated online. It's easy to do and built right into the game. Check it out.
6) HAVE FUN. WE PLAY FIGHTING GAMES BECAUSE THEY ARE FUN AND EXCITING AND FUNNY AND IT MAKES US PART OF A WORLD WIDE COMMUNITY WE LOVE
YOU ARE ALL FREE NOW!
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