Introduction

This is a guide written for and inspired by new players looking to improve their game for play at a high level, based on my experiences as a player, as well as what I’ve learned from players from the tournament scene as a whole. The purpose is to give people more than just move/combo lists and frame charts to look at, it’s to give them a way of thinking about all these moves in a constructive manner, and teach themselves how to apply them in a more successful fashion. I also tried to use as much positive, encouraging language as possible, sidestepping some of the negativity present in a guide like Sirlin’s “Playing to Win” that may be offsetting to new players.

This is going to be really long for a forum guide, Sirlin’s guide is a whole book so whatever haha. You’ve been warned, grab yourself a cup of joe and dive in.

Learning the Basics

The basic approach to Soul Calibur, and most fighting games for that matter, for a new player is to go into practice mode and go through a character’s movelist. This is important, there’s no doubt. However, learning a character’s movelist is only part of the equation. You must also understand the basic system of the game, as well as your character’s combos, guaranteed damage, and more.

Thankfully, this part of learning a fighting game is really easy! Websites devoted to Soul Calibur like caliburforum and 8wayrun are chock full of technical info, combo lists, frame data, and the like. Most of these are provided in a notation that makes info easy to process once you learn it, and the notation guide is always provided somewhere on the website. If you can’t find it or understand it, someone will usually be happy to help you find and understand it. This information is all very useful, but it’s often difficult to take on all of this new info at once. It will still take time to learn a character’s moves, practice their combos, and the like.

So that being said, all technical info can be found on the afformentioned websites. We’re going to deal strictly with move application and player mindsets from here on out. The rest of this guide will assume you’re familiar with basic Soul Calibur notation, as well as your own character’s moveset.

Learning the Moves BEYOND the Moves: Applying Moves in Theory

Everyone that learns Chess first has to learn how the pieces move, and learn the rules of the game. Every move you make in Chess changes the situation that a player is currently in, on both sides of the board. The key difference present in Soul Calibur (and all fighting games) is that it also limits the possible moves that a player can execute. A piece will move into place, and block the movement of another piece, and so on. This concept does not apply to Soul Calibur, where any move can be used at any time, so long as your character is still on his feet. This often results in players performing moves when they should be taking defensive measures, using slow moves where quick moves should be used, or the old and dreaded practice of “button mashing.”

However, every move you make still creates a situation of it’s own, every time you execute it. If a move connects with the opponent, it will create a different situation than when it’s blocked, or when it whiffs from various ranges. This concept is often lost in translation when it comes to reading technical information. We can record and share information on how much damage a move does, whether or not it allows for more guaranteed damage via combos, whether it’s safe or unsafe on block, and whether or not it can be stepped, ducked, jumped or otherwise avoided. We can build top 10 move lists, discuss and debate them, and even how to apply them in relation to other moves. This info often makes sense to experienced players, but can result in new players just doing the moves they were told to do, and not understanding why they aren’t working.

Understanding that every move you make creates a unique scenario for that split second in time is key to improving your game beyond simply using technical info provided to you. I’ll start with a common example, a simple A,A poke for most characters. Most characters have simple attacks like this, but they all do a variety of slightly different things. They also create unique scenarios for that character, based on the movesets of both characters involved in the match. If an A,A attack connects with the opponent, you may have a frame advantage over the opponent, where another fast attack will interrupt many of their retaliatory attacks, a “frame trap.”

If you choose to use this follow up attack, this will also create a unique situation. Maybe they tried to attack and got counter hit by your frame trap, which would have unique properties from a normal hit with the same move. Maybe they blocked the attack, which would have different properties from if the attack hit. Or maybe they used another form of defense to step, jump or duck your follow up, and hit you with a move instead. These all create unique situations. And that’s just from one result, of one move.

Some moves create more advantageous situations than others, and some more disadvantageous. This all depends on who’s on the receiving end, of course. But even in highly disadvantaged situations, it’s important to know that this is still a scenario, a brief scenario that has options. A perfect example is being launched by an attack. You are in the air, and are unable to perform moves, but you are still able to air control. And how you do this can change the scenario entirely, it may cause an opponent’s follow ups to miss if they’re not guaranteed, and it can change your positioning in the ring when you land, creating a different scenario based on whether you moved closer or farther away from the opponent, or to the side away from a ring edge.

That concept may seem daunting at first, that every move has all of these possibilites attached to it. Just remember, no player sits there mid match and knows every possible scenario immediately, they know only what they’ve experienced, either via practice, online information, or their own personal matches. So while the common advice of “it just takes experience and time” is true, this mindset will help you gleam information from seeing and using various moves more quickly.

Applying Moves and Strategies In Game: Read and React

Combining the technical information you’ve learned from the internet, your own practice, and other players, with the knowledge that every situation you encounter is unique, you can now start to see things happen more clearly in a match. If your frame trap is cleverly avoided, you’ll not only see it happen, you’ll be equipped to handle the situation differently the next time you encounter it, or a similar situation. We could call this “Read and React” in actual practice.

When you’re placed in a unique situation, your opponent’s reactions will be based not only on technical info, but also on their own tendencies, patterns, and even their overall views on the game. Some players adhere more to the technically “correct” responses to the game, some have a sort of mental flow chart that they use to choose a response to a given situation, and some will honestly just wing it and do some crazy stuff. You will need to learn to read these situations, and quickly decipher possible responses. Will the opponent keep blocking when I hit them with this move, or will they attack? Will their attack beat my attack? Are they the type of player to take risks and try to jump or duck out of situations instead of blocking? Using this way of thinking, you can react to moves more easily.

Many moves in the game are difficult to react to, since the gameplay moves very quickly compared to other strategic games. If you were to stand in front of a computer that was using Mitsurugi, randomly choosing between 2k,b and 3b, and your only option was to block, you’d likely fail to defend successfully with any consistency. However when you’re able to read situations, and thus read the opponent’s tendencies, you’ll likely be more successful in defending against things like this. You’re not neccesarily seeing 2k,b on reaction, as it’s an extremely fast low, you’re reacting to the situation, and giving yourself extra time to make a choice and defend yourself more effectively.

Putting It All Together, And Developing a Tournament Mindset

So you’ve learned the technical info, and now hopefully you’ve learned some useful info about how to interpret and use this info effectively. This alone won’t be enough to vault you to the top of the competitive scene, I’m sorry to say. This is the part where I break down and say it, it really does just take experience.

Experience can be gained from every match you play, if you’re paying attention. As stated earlier, all opponents you face will play differently. Even two players that use the same moves for the same characters will use them slightly differently, and have different defensive and offensive tendencies. The more proficient you are at reading and reacting to the myriad of situations that are presented to you in a single round, let alone an entire tournament, the more proficient a player you will be.

Your mindset for a tournament isn’t going to be immediate, like practicing a new combo or learning a particular defensive measure. It’s something that’s built up over time. I’ve been playing this game for 5 years, and my tournament mindset continues to grow. Every player’s tournament mindset is different, and you’ll have to develop your own, but I’ll offer some simple advice to keep in mind, and follow if you like.

Don’t worry about who you’re playing: In short, you’re not “supposed” to lose/win against any one person, you simply input commands based on reading and reaction to the situations placed before you, and the game takes care of the rest based on the technical info. No player is so dangerous, so skilled, that he changes the properties of a move that wasn’t already built into the game.

A lot of new players that are familiar with some of the names they’ve seen on the internet have a tendency to go into matches thinking to themselves “oh no I have to face so and so, I can’t beat them!” A mindset like this can completely change the way you play the game for the worse, and it can become a bad habit. Some players that have been playing tournaments for years still fall into this trap. Try your best to separate the name from the game, and realize that it’s still just a series of unique situations for you to read and react to. Not every player that posts information on an internet forum is a talented player in a tournament setting, and not every player that you’re unfamiliar with is an easy win. It’s a difficult concept to fully embrace, even if you keep it to yourself, I can personally attest to this. But if you can follow this advice more often than not, it will help you out immensely.

PLAY TO WIN (yeah, I went there, sue me) This next concept stems from the first, which is simply playing to win, a phrase made popular by ol’ man Sirlin. As much as I’ve said about learning from every scenario, this will seem counterintuitive but don’t go into a tournament match with a mindset to learn things, go in with the mindset that you’re going to win. If you go into a tournament match expecting to learn how to handle a given situation from a more experienced player, you’re likely to play more passively, defensively or even scared, making your match much more difficult. And your odds of having “hey what does that move do?” answered during a tournament are much slimmer than having them answered in a more casual setting.

But if all players play differently, and handle situations uniquely, how will I know what to do when I play against opponent A as opposed to opponent B? Especially when they may play a given match differently from the last? The answer is simply to read and react. All players have a built up memory of moves they like to do, how they handle a given situation, and the like.

The idea is that you make decisions based on how your opponent is playing at that given time. Do they seem to be more careful and defensive, or do they take more risks and play more offensively? Did I just see them do that sequence of moves twice now? Answering these questions quickly will allow you to choose moves that will produce positive results. The more options you know and have practiced prior to this in both personal training, and in matches against players both tournaments and casuals, the more quickly you can select moves based on a given situation. This all stems from experience, of course.

Keep Your Cool! This may be the most important advice I can offer. Remember, everyone makes mistakes. The best players in the world have all lost rounds, matches and tournaments. So you chose wrong in a situation, maybe you got poked and left in a situation less advantageous than your last, or maybe you ate a big combo and are now in danger of losing the round. Or maybe you didn’t block that slow low in time, even though you know you normally block it and punish it because it’s unsafe. Maybe you blocked it and didn’t punish in time. If you let frustration build over your mistakes, you will likely hinder your decision making, and handle the situations presented to you more poorly. It’s important to learn from mistakes, but also equally important to quickly forget them if you already know what the mistake was. Just keep playing and try to read and react to what happens next.

Conclusion!

“Wow he’s finally shut up” you might be thinking to yourself, haha. If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably seriously intererested about improving your game. You also may just be curious as to what all this stuff was about, one of the people who helped me proofread this wall of text, or maybe you just think I’m a sexy, sexy man (which I am, by the way.)

Hopefully by reading this guide, you’ve gained the knowledge to take all the technical info you have access to and turn it into a more cohesive gameplan. You’ve also hopefully learned to take this gameplan, and develop it over time by reading and reacting to other people’s gameplans, by breaking down unique situations. Lastly, you may have found ways to develop an effective tournament mindset aside from all the technical info.

Remember, the most important factor in all of this will be you. The technical info is all very important, and it’s up to you to learn and practice it. I’m hoping that this guide was useful in helping you to understand how to develop into a stronger player, but I also hope you remember that this is still a game, and that you have fun playing it with this new mindset.

Wow, man! Awesome writing. I read it all and will surely keep it as reference. ^_^

Thank you so much for sharing it!

*cheers*

Great topic. I believe if you can get the CONCEPT of the game down, then you can literally pick up any character and play them. Of course the moves and application are different but the concept is still there.

I know I play 2 characters, but im inclined to mess with the other 6 or 7 just for the hell of it because I know how to play the game.

People should listen to Gangsta-Bill Cosby.

This would tie in well with the video my friend and I are making should we ever decide to stop procrastinating and finish it.

good stuff kotow ... read the whole thing and it speaks the truth

... u tricky cervy bastard

This should explain some of how I go about being a tricky Cervy bastard, haha.

Good stuff, especially with the stuff people have added to my noob thread. Hopefully I can use all of this information to improve myself at the game!

Damn I'm impressed Kowtow, you could take this and post is on other game community's websites and just replace every instance of "Soul Calibur" with whatever game you're talking about.

Sticky-icky-icky

Nah Tekken don't got no air control, just Dreamkiller style INFINITE COMBOS lol.

But yeah most of it is pretty universal. Just wanted to expound on the whole "it takes experience" thing we tell everyone, because while it's true, it doesn't really give people any direction to go in.

Great article for new people Kowtow, thanks for it.

cha cha

props and more props... well done I like it

Good shit Kowtow.

I do think you should perhaps add a few more topics in there for people who have been playing for a while and certain situations arise.

As a matter of fact I'll discuss this in more detail on AIM with you.

"Don't worry about who you are playing." That's a mistake I've made more than once.

VERY well written, sir. I salute you

Haha I think we all have. Nobody is immune to that, but it's something to try and really follow as best you can.

I never noticed this before, very good stuff and much thanks for writing!

Some comments of my own:

Basically, in casuals, play to learn. In tournaments, play to win.

I know people who get caught up trying to "prove themselves" in casual play and I have to explain to them that nobody freaking cares. This is your opportunity to practice that big combo or just frame you're not 100% solid with yet, or learn stick, or whatever else is "risky" for you at that point.

Eventually, as you develop, you'll want to start doing some of these risky things in tournament play. In any game, the top players have an aggressive mentality to them and are willing to go outside their comfort zone even in the highest-pressure situations. This could mean a rarely-used JF (Yoshi healing, etc.), or an anticipatory GI or low block, or a dash -> throw. These things often make the difference between winning and losing at mid-level and above.

-Josh

Basically a summary of Play to Win minus the art of war applied to Soul Calibur. Good read, and great read to those who haven't read Play to Win and want to get good at SC.

Basically, haha. Sirlin wrote a good guide, but not everyone wants to read a book, and not everyone wants to be reminded that they're a scrub every other paragraph lol.

YouTube - Read a Book (Dirty Version)

This is an awesome article Chris. Much respect, man.

I truly do believe that to be good at any competitive fighting game, a proper mindset is a must as well as having the technical skills.

You would rarely ever see anything this good posted at a place like DOACentral.