First post (ish)

Okay. This is the inaugural first post of this blog, after, obviously, the intro post. Since this is the first post, it makes sense that I would dedicate this to a significant aspect of Brad that I have learned as I have practiced. I should dedicate this to one move of Brad's that I use in every match, regardless of the skill level of the opponent, the way I'm playing, or anything else. So, let's do that.

The move? 2P. That's right. Ducking punch. I can already hear people screaming "Spammer" and "Scrub" at their computer monitors as they read this. That's fine. If you want to continue to improve, the first thing you need to do is ignore those people. 2P is an important move. There's a reason it always shows up in every characters top 10 moves list. Let's start to get into how this move is useful for Brad.

Let's look at three areas this move is good at.

1. Maintaining Momentum





Brad excels in a few areas. He can keep the momentum up at a very rapid pace, and force the opponent to constantly make awkward decisions. He can overwhelm the opponent's focus, mentally, by constantly switching back and forth between stances. Unlike Lei Fei, who needs to commit to one of his many stances, do a move sequence, and then move into his next (ignore the fact for now that Lei can also switch manually back and forth - this is slow and tangential to what I'm talking baout) stance very quickly. Just when the opponent thinks that you've switched into a stance and there is a window of delay, POW. You nail them with a head crumple from Brad's Slipping Left and deftly remove a third of their life bar.

Where does 2P fit into all of this? Part of establishing and maintaining good momentum is disguising from your opponent the places where they can interupt your rhythm. Every character has these places, and the better opponents know where these windows are, and punish accordingly. 2P provides a way to break these windows apart, and make them even smaller.

Maintain your advantage and the pressure on the opponent by sticking in a 2P and keeping your advantage before carrying on with more shenanigans. Lead the opponent to believe that they've got an opening to hit you, counter-hit them with your 2P, and then go back into your offense now that you've recaptured the momentum.





2. Defense and rhythm





One of the things that has always struck me about fighting games is that everyone plays to a certain rhythm. One of the key things I've found has helped me to beat people is to understand their rhythm, and figure out how to break them out of it. Sometimes this just means playing slower (honestly. Some people HATE playing a slower game, and will start to get reckless). Sometimes this means playing fast and in their face. Sometimes this means doing odd things. 2P is an excellent way to break an opponent out of their rhythm, and reset the flow and pace of the round.

This does not mean that you should throw out 2P constantly, nor that you use it without thinking about it. Always attempt to play intelligently. If you've noticed that the opponent often uses their PPP string, wait until you have blocked those three punches, and then throw out your 2P. Reset their rhythm, and throw them off balance. Sometimes it's worth doing this just to see how the opponent deals with the move. Did they block after you hit them? Did they attack again? (if so, next time, try throwing out 2P, followed by 2P). Don't treat 2P as a mindless attack to spam. Treat it as a way of looking into the mind of your opponent.




3. Placeholder





The last use of 2P is as a placeholder. When you don't know what you should do, but you have the advantage, throw out a 2P. One of the styles of dance (locking) that I practice has a technique called pacing. This is essentially your basic movement, and is what you do when you're not sure what to do. It's essentially movement for the sake of movement. Use 2P in this manner. Again, any locker that did nothing but pace all night would be boring to watch, and would get schooled by someone with skill. The same is the case with 2P. Use it intelligently, and let it be a way of showing your opponent that even though you don't yet know how you want to respond to that delayed rising kick you just blocked, you're still going to get some guaranteed damage from them.

Lastly, as I said initially, don't let people convince you that 2P is only for scrubs. Play the game to win, not to be stylish. If your opponent has trouble dealing with ducking jabs, that's his problem, not yours. Every time you get sent a message after you've won that says something like this:

Wow, 2P spam. I prefer playing people that aren't boring

Treat it as a compliment to your ability to win. That's great that the opponent prefers to play people that aren't boring, but we're here to win, not to be flashy.

Okay, it's out of the way. I won't mention 2P after this, except incidentally. Now it's time to start getting specific to Brad.