How do you determine your opening move?
I ask myself before every match "How should I start this?". I've never seen this discussed though. If you decide to go on the offense you may be read/out prioritized and get punished hard. If you go on the defense you may get trapped and take more chip damage then wanted (fireball spammers). I know there's no real answer to this and it changes based on characters and match-ups, but I'm curious: How do you decide your opening move vs new and old opponents? What tips would you give a newer player?
Responses (4 total)
Here's a few points to help you decide how to start the match.
1) What character are you using?
Do you have a projectile? Do you have good long range normals or other safe specials that might be good openers? Using a projectile to start off isn't too bad because jumping in has to be pretty much decided beforehand (equal to guessing). A normal instead of a projectile might give you enough time to antiair his jump if you notice him thinking that you like projectiles.
2) What character is your opponent using?
Does he have a projectile or other good attacks that might be good as opening moves? If you have a good fast normal you might at worst trade with his projectile in your favor. Don't jump in before you know he likes projectiles and even so keep in mind that it's always a guess (with a good reward though).
3) Have you played them before?
Do you know if he likes to start off by attacking or defending? If you don't, keep his opening in mind for the next round.
I'd say the start of a match is a kind of a rock-paper-scissors game. Instead of a straight up rock>scissors>paper>rock you have more options and results though. In addition to that the first opening is different from the later rounds where you both may have EX-meter to burn. The absolute best opening move is blocking/backing away, but a "double nothing" (both of you backing) means you don't have an advantage either.
My advice is don't be random, but systematically try to gain advantage. What that means is that you should press attack in the first round. You have nothing to lose in the first round yet so starting with an attack should be fine. If he blocks, keep it in mind, he will most likely block in the next round too. This of course works the other way too and that's where matchup knowledge comes in. Don't make it into rocket science either, overthinking will get you nowhere.
The best thing to do in my opinion is nothing. Just chill out and see what the opponent does. There is a 0% chance of you getting hit like this which is a great thing. If you jump in you risk getting anti-air'd. If you fireball or another special move you risk the chance of the opponent blocking and/or punishing you for that. Also, by doing so, you can punish any dumb move your opponent makes and get a life lead right from the start.
I tend to walk backwards slightly and set my spacing then I'll act once I'm comfortable in my range or I neutral jump depending on the match and how I feel starting with a jump forward is asking to be anti-aired.
the best advice would be just go with how you feel is best for you, walk forward if you want to pressure there zones and space backwards if you plan on countering them and defending or stay still and see what they do
I personally am struggling with being a defensive player, so I tend to jump in first mostly. I also know that if the player I'm facing is fairly decent if the player anti-air's my jump-in straight away.
Of course, this doesn't always prove to be true, as in Ken/Ryu and similar cases, they might just be SRK spammers. I don't think there's any good answer to this, as it's mostly rock-scissor-paper when facing a player you've never faced before.
If you've faced the player before, you'll probably have a better idea. ( Unless they play great mix-up games :D )
