The hardest thing to learn in fighting games is to just pick the top tier regardless of how ugly they are

hardest thing for me to learn was when to not press a button, followed by knowing why i’m pressing the button i’m pressing.

After the video:
Y'know, I really didn't think about the actual player on the other side of me. I got so used to the dialogue of the "how good is this button" and "can I do this combo" that I failed to remember that all of that is pointless if I'm just going ape spit on the controller in predictable patterns.


That Ryu clip really sold it for me. You didn't win neutral, or use some sort of convoluted mix up, or extremely difficult input, you just threw three fireballs at different timings, and your opponent ate them because they were tricked into thinking it was safe to approach after the delay. The person on the other side is human, they're not playing by instinct, they're sizing you up just as much. Any hesitation shouldn't just be rush down time (predictable), it can also be "let me do some funky shit and throw you off even worse" time.

Hardest thing to learn is to remain civil during a losing streak, especially in today's online-heavy environment. For every loss you take online means that you probably made someone else's day a little better.

That FightCade clip was a really great example of what you're explaining because it perfectly visualizes your point. To the untrained newcomer's eye, it would just look like you're throwing fireballs randomly but with the commentary of an experienced player, it's eye-opening how one simple thing (timing/delay) changes the game.

Hardest thing to learn? Blocking.

This is something I learned in fencing before I ever picked up fighting games. Creating a rhythm, then snapping it, is the singular most effective way to create openings in a game where you are otherwise "equal". So when I was able to execute well enough to use that pre existing knowledge I became scary pretty quick!
Great explainer, I hope this leads to a lot of eye opener moments. Usually people don't see this but when they do, the conceptual expansion is huge.

Hardest thing for me is just to keep improving. I tend to get where I'm way above average, but where actually good players stomp me, then I get annoyed and gradually play less and less.
I don't actually get to the point where I'm legit AF, and I really need to, because it bothers me that I don't.

You have to be self aware of your own rhythm and then actively vary it up. Same as reading your opponent's rhythm. This is how adaptation happens. Once you can identify your own rhythm, you can vary it.

The deepest question in fighting games is never what, but when.

Edit: Really this statement should really be "The deepest question in fighting games is never what, but when and where" because at their core fighting games are about timing and spacing

Hardest thing to learn
Is why you are not pressing a button and why you are choosing a move

7:30 - God, I feel this so much.  I've enjoyed a lot of different fighting games, but whenever I'm encountering a new one, there's always a level of, "Alright, what all can I even do?"  Or even when returning to a game I've played a bunch, things I never really got the hang of have fallen by the wayside and I have to go through the process of remembering that they even exist midfight.

I'm 1:14 in and I already had to cosign this. One of my favorite quotes is, "Time is an illusion, timing is not." I am part of the Original Fighting game generation. I played the first games in the arcades with rudimentary stuff like "Karate Champ". I watched the genre evolve into Street Fighter 2 and the first golden age. I stayed a true blue fan even through the dark age. And I'm still here, 2025, struggling with TIMING!! Honestly, without a button mapped to "Dash", really have never been able to get dashing mid combo down, at least not well enough to put into my gameplay. And in this genre more than any other i think,  timing is crucial. When you hit the button, when you let it go, when to do the move to lead to the next, when to block, when to parry when to punish. It's all about timing. I always say that in fighting games damage is King, but timing is a close second.

not to sound dramatic but ive been feeling like ive plateaued in granblue versus rising, and this is like, exactly what i needed to hear today. like, i had an actual brain blast moment in what ive been struggling with going from D-B rank to S rank lmao. it felt so invisible, too. thanks, theoryfighter !

really like this idea of ‘soft value’ because there can be a lot to gain in making your opponent even marginally more hesitant to act on their own game plan

This really does help illustrate why low/intermediate versus high level play can feel so different.

The former is more scrambling, hesitant. The latter is calculated, then just so explosive.

The execution difference is notable, but it’s the way they have such information and know how, tempered patience until they can spot when it’s best to implement something to change and direct the flow. It’s almost like art. So tense until the moment happens and advantage is taken, like a long and drawn out inhale that’s matched by a strong exhale.

0:04 What the fuck I'm in this video LOL. This is opening weekend of HOG in North Acton, right? Great venue so it was!

When it seems like your opponent magically always guesses right, what this video is about is often the reason

I feel like this concept applies even to meatying the opponent with a strike. There are counters to meaties, but there are so many things you lose to if you don't meaty proper and it can feel infuriating when the knockdown you worked for results in someone hitting you with wake up throw

I feel this a lot, I recently hit Master rank in GBVSR and I came to the realisation that my playstyle was entirely just waiting for my opponent to do something stupid and punishing it, and that I didn't really know how to force good players to make errors in pressure. After realising how good just mixing up your timings is I feel like I got past that plateau and I'm actually opening people up again.