What I Learned From Street Fighter 6 (Beginner to Diamond)

I realized I didn’t really understand fighting games, so I made up my mind to dive into SF6. A couple of friends—some just starting out, some veteran FG players—also got me motivated.

I started in June, began ranked in late June, and as a total beginner who didn’t even know what “frames” meant, I started from Bronze. After three tough months, I somehow climbed to Diamond 3. Apparently I’ve played about 1,500 ranked matches.

There’s still a long way to Master, and it looks like a long road from here, but I’ve learned a lot so far, so I wanted to pause and organize it in this article.

What This Article Is

Because SF6 is hugely popular, there’s an overwhelming amount of information out there. When there’s too much information, it becomes hard to filter.

Most of what you need is out there, but without prior FG knowledge it’s hard to judge which information you need when, and how difficult it is. There are many cases where something is important in the long run, yet too difficult to learn right now. Once you improve to a certain level, you forget how it felt at the beginning, so it’s easy to give advice that isn’t quite on point. This is especially common in rhythm games where a lot of actions are done unconsciously.

This post is a personal memo to organize what I did and what I learned so I can apply it going forward.
At the same time, since I’m writing what helped me as a beginner, I hope it will also be useful for people who are just getting started or around the same level.

I split things roughly by rank, but treat those boundaries as approximate. “Usable in matches” or “started consciously thinking about it” are around those points. Details vary by character and the state of ranked, so please take this just as a reference.

Notes

About SF6 and Fighting Games

Right now SF6 is extremely popular, likely thanks to tournaments and streamers. As with anything competitive, the size and breadth of the player base are crucial.
Information is easy to find, ranked matches queue quickly, and it’s easy to find rivals and mentors. There’s also a clear LP/rating metric, which makes it easy to set goals. On top of that, the game has strong systems that help you improve.
It’s a great entry point into fighting games, and before I knew it I was spending a lot of time on it myself.

Thanks to that, I’ve gotten a taste of the (probably) essential fun of FGs—the mind games and character research. Even as a spectator, fighting games are fun with zero knowledge, but they become even more fun once you understand what’s happening.

Like rhythm games, it’s also great for training your mentality. There’s essentially no luck (connection quality aside), so unless the skill gap is huge, you can usually find something to improve when you lose.

As of now it was 2,495 yen at 50% off on Steam. Incredible value.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364780/Street_Fighter_6/

My FG History

The only title I can say I played to some extent was Guilty Gear -Strive- (GGST), where I rode the dolphin. In other words, no command inputs. I played it because I liked the anime style and cute characters, but I didn’t acquire FG fundamentals.

I also tried SF6 some time after release (around May 2024). It looks like I bought it during a 34% off sale on Steam.
After World Tour, I played 184 matches with Modern Luke, starting from Rookie and reaching Silver 3. In hindsight, that’s quite a bit.
Back then I wasn’t thinking much about fundamentals either, so nothing stuck. I don’t even remember why I stopped—no memory and no notes.

From there I resumed in June 2025, and here we are.

Control Type

I probably wouldn’t have played this much—or even started—without Modern controls.
Command inputs are that hard, and it probably takes a huge amount of time for a beginner to reach the point of real mind games. Rhythm games already demand enough precise, fast inputs for me.
The system and balance that broaden the player base are practically an invention. If you’re new to fighting games, I highly recommend choosing Modern.

Character, etc.

My character is Modern Juri. I chose her for her looks.

Move names appear later in the post; if something’s unfamiliar, please look it up. Inputs are written in the general feel of Modern.
Here are some commonly used ones:

• Forward Special = 天穿輪 (the spin)
• Back Special = 風破刃 (the kick-up)
• Forward Heavy = 連剋脚 (two-kick sequence)
• Assist Medium = crouching MP (妖撞)
• Down Medium = crouching MK (剥影脚)
• Assist Heavy = standing HP (蜘殺)
• Target Combo = 死紋蹴

https://www.streetfighter.com/6/ja-jp/character/juri/movelist
https://www.streetfighter.com/6/ja-jp/character/juri/frame

I use a gamepad with the D-pad.

Rank Progression

If you join some kind of club, your progress gets recorded and is easy to review.
Match counts vary, so consider this just a rough guide to where I got stuck.

• 2025-06-08: Started Juri
• 2025-06-21: Started ranked from Bronze
• 2025-06-22: Silver 1
• 2025-06-24: Silver 2
• 2025-06-28: Silver 3
• 2025-06-29: Silver 4 / Silver 5
• 2025-07-03: Gold 4
• 2025-07-05: Gold 5 / Platinum 1
• 2025-07-18: Platinum 2
• 2025-07-27: Platinum 3
• 2025-08-24: Platinum 4
• 2025-09-05: Platinum 5
• 2025-09-11: Diamond 1
• 2025-09-22: Diamond 2
• 2025-09-28: Diamond 3

Before Ranked

Here’s the main topic. I’ll record what I did broken down by period.

Before jumping into ranked, I checked operations in training mode and fought CPUs. It’s also fine to learn by directly jumping into ranked.

Learned the Basic Controls

I learned the basics: press left/right to move, hold back to guard, what each button does. Same as other fighters, though I did think “oh right, there’s no double jump.”
I also learned things like how you can’t move while crouch-blocking, the speed of forward/back movement, and the distance of forward jump.
Since movement differs by character, I tried various ones to get used to the feel. Juri’s movement is on the faster side.

Learned High/Mid/Low and Throw Relationships

If the opponent jumps in to attack you, that’s an overhead/mid; if they go for your feet it’s a low; otherwise it’s high. Throws beat guard.
That’s the same in most fighters, but SF6 also has Parry and Drive Impact. I roughly put those mind games in my head.
I couldn’t execute well yet, but being aware of it already helps. There were things I thought I knew but had forgotten, so I re-learned them while moving around.

Learned the Ultra Basics of Defense

Lows beat stand-block, overheads beat crouch-block. So if the opponent jumps in, stand up; if they seem to be aiming for your feet, crouch—those basics came first. What had I been doing until now?
Modern makes anti-airs easy (Forward Special), so if the opponent did a forward jump, I’d spin to swat them down. From this point I was already consciously anti-airing and started to do it reflexively.

Got Assist Combos to Come Out

Assist Combos are Modern-only strings that link by just mashing a button. Compared to regular combos—where you need precise timing or commands—they’re dramatically easier to execute.
There are three types (light/medium/heavy), so I used them based on “roughly this far” or “this looks punishable.”

Some of Modern Juri’s assist strings are so-so. I eventually switched to other combos, but they were perfect for learning when to use which.

Learned What “Frames” Mean

My mentor brought it up, so I learned frames—the common language of fighting games. At this point I hadn’t memorized frame data for specific moves, just the concept.
Watching mysteries get resolved—Why does something become punishable? Why do I lose when I mash after blocking? Why can’t I hit on their wake-up?—felt like a science class.

I also learned you can display the frame meter in training mode. It’s a must-have setting. I gradually learned how to read it.

Bronze → Silver → Gold

For me this period was about getting used to FG fundamentals and operation. With win streak bonuses and low LP requirements, you rank up quickly.

Fighting the “Human-like” CPU

Since the regular CPU felt a bit inhuman, I started playing against the “human-like” CPU. I set the opponent to Master from the start, picked a random character, and kept going until I could win—it was training.
Of course I couldn’t win at all at first; depending on the character I’d lose 10 in a row. Some days it felt like I would never start ranked. I kept doing this up to late Platinum.

The “human-like” CPU’s selling point is its human-ish movement, but it doesn’t do optimal combos, doesn’t go for lethal combos, and sometimes won’t spend SA, so it lets you get away with things. It might be fine for characters with short combos, but since it got harder to take wins/losses seriously, I haven’t touched it recently.

Started Basic Matchup Study

When I hit characters I absolutely couldn’t beat against the CPU, I googled for counterplay. The primordial stage of matchup study.
When I found something simple I could try, I wrote it down. Naturally you don’t master it overnight, so from here on it stays with you.

At this stage I was mostly just learning what notable/odd moves the opponent had.

Started Loosely Memorizing Basic Combos

To get used to inputs, I researched and tried various combos.

First I learned Down Medium > Back Special. It’s the standard: simple and strong.

Next I learned the frequently used piece Stand Medium > Assist Medium, which is hard. Medium on hit is +7F, and Assist Medium starts up in 6F, so there’s only a 1F gap. Unlike Assist Combos, you can’t just mash; you have to press with proper timing. In practice I learned it as the combo Stand Medium > Assist Medium > Back Special (medium Fuhazan). When I was mashing, Assist Medium would chain into an Assist Combo and OD Fuhazan would come out. Since it shows up constantly, I’ve worked on it since then. Over time I reduced extra presses and it mostly links now (though I still drop it). Basically a rhythm game.

Combos are a constant companion, so they’ll keep appearing throughout this post.

Learn the Down Medium into Cancel Rush Combo

This is the long crouching kick into CR you often see with Juri.
At this stage I always did c.MK > CR > st.M > Assist M > Kick Up. It felt great when it hit, but it often didn’t fully connect, and spamming it quickly sent me into BO (Burnout).

Use Assist Combos Based on the Situation

I also refined how I used Assist Combos.
If I had Drive to spare I’d just use the Assist Combo as-is, I decided case by case whether to go into an Assist Combo from st.M > Assist M, and when there was time I tried to use the heavy Assist Combo. It takes a long time to make custom combos match-ready, so I practiced while using Assist Combos smartly.

Learn You Can Take Over Replays

My mentor taught me you can take control partway through a replay. I remember thinking, “technology is amazing.” The robustness of these systems surely contributes to the game’s popularity.

When something didn’t make sense, I rewound the replay and checked the counterplay. I still do this today.

Early Platinum

Once you enter Platinum, the win-streak bonus disappears and LP growth slows dramatically. You also need 1200 LP per rank. Long road.
However, after 10 consecutive wins, you get roughly enough LP to climb a whole rank. I ranked up by getting that win streak after a slump. Oddly, I’ve never had an 11-game streak.
Wins are +50 or more and losses are around -40, so at 50% win rate you grow steadily. Aim for half wins and keep improving issues.
…That’s the theory, but in reality LP often swings by hundreds in a day, which is hard not to think about. I now try to care a healthy amount.

Platinum opponents’ options are stronger, so I often got stuck. There were many days I kept losing and it was rough, but once I got over that hump my win rate improved a lot. It was a period of laying the groundwork.

Don’t Mash Needlessly

Everyone knows the feeling of getting clipped because you were pressing buttons.
I drilled into myself not to mash when the opponent is plus, and to simply hold down-back.
Which situations you can mash in depends on matchup knowledge; I still don’t know on some lesser-seen characters, but I guard more rather than eating counter-hits.

Also, when I do mash, I only use 4F or 5F buttons instead of slower ones.
Assist Light (5F) is great, though ideally I want a 4F option to do the same thing.

Organize Basic Combos

Organizing combos matters. Damage dealt to the opponent and your own resource consumption heavily affect wins and losses, so you can’t escape from combos. It takes time to make them match-ready, but I practiced steadily.

Assist Combos only come in three flavors, which makes them hard to adapt to varied situations. Using situation-appropriate combos lets you increase damage and conserve Drive.
Back then the differences looked small, but now I think they matter a lot for winning and losing.

Modern Juri feels slightly difficult from a combo perspective^[1].
I haven’t played other characters, so this is based on how many patterns I get hit by and how long the sequences run.
There’s also the command-only Sakkai (five-orb super), branches from Fuhazan stocks, and Drive management that tends to run dry.

As a result, here are the combos I currently use. They share many common sub-parts and are organized to minimize cognitive load. Once I learned them, I periodically tidied them up.

- 下中（発生8F）
	- > 中風破（後ろ必）
	- 【Dあり】 > CR > （CR後の分岐）
- アシ大（発生10F）
	- > 中風破（後ろ必）
	- 【ヒット時・風破あり】 >  強化暗剣殺 > 下中 > 蹴り上げ（途中の下中でCRも可能）
	- 【ヒット時・風破なし】 >  大アシコン（途中の下中でCRも可能）
- アシ小（発生5F）
	- 小アシコン連打
- 下小（発生4F）
	- 下小x2-3 > 中風破（後ろ必）
- 前強（二段ありヒット確認しやすい、高火力）
	- 【インパクト返し、ゲージ節約】 大くるくる（コマンド入力）
	- 【Dあり】 > CR > （CR後の分岐）
- 立ち中（発生6F）
	-  > アシ中
		-  > 五黄殺 > SA3可能
		- 【リーサル（倒し切り）】 > CR > 立ち中 > 立ち中コン
	- 【SA】 > タゲコン > SA1 / SA3
- （CR後の分岐）
	- 【ヒット時、理想】下大 > 立ち中コン
	- 【ガードかも？】立ち中 > 立ち中コン
- 五黄殺
	- 【風破3の時】 強化五黄殺 > 強化歳破衝 > 強化暗剣殺 > 下中コン
- インパクト壁ドン
	- 下強 > 大風破（コマンド） > くるくる

Take Back Rise (Except vs. Jamie and JP)

Okizeme (pressure on wake-up) is extremely strong. To avoid it, it’s important to take back rise when you’re knocked down.
I didn’t fully grasp it back then, but I got into the habit of pressing the buttons together by default.

That said, for characters like Jamie and JP who often give up okizeme to run their own stuff, the downside of giving up space is larger, so I was taught to generally not back-rise against them. I still forget this a lot.

Learn to Deal With “Scam” Stuff

I pushed matchup study a bit further and increased my answers to “scammy” moves. I looked these up as I got scammed in ranked. SF6 is said to be very balanced, so there should be counterplay.
There are moves whose visuals don’t match their behavior, moves that somehow leave the user plus despite looking wildly punishable, and moves that feel impossible to dodge on reaction. I keep per-character notes for these.

Learn What To Do After a Corner Throw

There’s a strong sequence known as “judo” (throw-into-meaty-throw sequences).
Juri can’t do pure judo, but only after a corner throw, a forward dash makes throw or stand medium line up cleanly.
It’s very consistent, so it beats mash on wake-up. Even if they neutral or forward jump on wake-up, you still have time to anti-air.

It’s worth memorizing, and I often see players using it in matches. There are counters, so don’t over-rely on it, but if you throw them into the corner, try going for it.

Memorize Frame Data for Key Moves

To learn more efficiently, I memorized the frames for my most-used moves. Advantage on hit tells you whether a combo links; advantage on block and startup frames help you judge risk.
Many characters share similar frame values for common actions, so this knowledge isn’t wasted.

Memorize Ranges

Distance matters as much as frames. This varies greatly by character. At minimum, memorize your own character’s ranges well.

First I learned the ranges where things hit. I’ll mention why this is important later.
It’s also useful to know “if you hit at the very tip you’ll be minus, but you’re far enough that they can’t punish.” You often find these in combo guides; I only memorized the ones that looked practically useful as “combos.”

Add SA as an Option

SAs (Super Arts) are often used to finish combos, but I learned there are many other effective situations.
Modern lets you input them easily, so you should use them. It’s sad that for Juri the only real choices are SA1 or SA3, though. Without scaling they hit pretty hard.

When I was Burned Out and the opponent used Impact, I learned I could counter with SA.
SA3 also has projectile invuln and good range, so I learned it can pierce through fireballs and connect.
SA3 drains 1.5 bars of the opponent’s Drive and restores yours, so even in a short combo, there are spots where you add SA to recover your own BO while pushing the opponent into BO.

Learn Shimmy + Do “Strength Training”

Shimmy is showing okizeme… then waiting to see what they do.
I didn’t know what was strong yet, so I set training dummy actions and just practiced.
Several pros have videos that show how to set it up; I copied those.

At first I often failed to react, but I gradually became able to handle it.

Late Platinum

I was stuck around Platinum 3 for about a month, so I took the opportunity to re-examine the basics from scratch.
The deeper I sank into the swamp, the more time I spent “meditating” and, probably, got closer to the essence.

Know Your Character’s Strengths

When I asked “why am I not winning?”, I realized I wasn’t enforcing my own strengths. Every character should have particular strengths, so I set out to learn them first.
Juri is a standard character: she has the full set of tools and some moves with good reach, but she doesn’t have obviously scammy moves just from their looks. You need to use her convenient moves and strings well.

• The reach on crouching medium kick is long. If it hits and I go into CR (I do it every time since I can’t hit-confirm), I can link a sequence and it carries quite far.
• Throws send them far, and rush plus forward/back walk speeds are fast. If I throw into the corner, a forward dash makes throw meaty.
• Forward Heavy is high-damage with decent reach, multi-hits so it’s easy to hit-confirm, and with the right timing I can even counter Impact thanks to hit-stop.
• Heavy normals have very long reach; Assist Heavy has range and if I buffer Fuhazan at tip, it’s basically unpunishable. Being heavy normals, they shave Drive.
• Combos typically end in Kick Up or 五黄殺, and both give knockdowns that let me get okizeme off just a forward dash.
• She has an extremely slow ground-traveling projectile that I can walk behind or meaty on wake-up.
• SA1, when it hits, sends the opponent flying.

In base damage she’s modest, but if I have Fuhazan stocks, damage goes up and post-knockdown situations improve.
It’s hard because I have to change combos, but as a rough idea off stand medium with no meter: no stock ~2000, one stock ~2160, two stocks ~2500, three stocks ~2830.
With two stocks I can route into SA3 partway, and with three I can end in SA3, which makes it convenient for lethal.

Think About Actions to Win

Assuming those strengths, the next step is to define win patterns—push the opponent into these and win easily.
Basically, do what the opponent hates.

In SF6 (and fighters generally), cornering the opponent is strong. Especially with Impact in the system, the corner pressure is intense.
Also, okizeme is extremely strong—you get to force a one-sided mix.

Leveraging that, I thought of the following patterns:

• Mix in lows, dash-in strikes/throws—get a knockdown no matter what.
• After Kick Up or powered 五黄殺, a single forward dash lets me force a mix among throw, big-damage Forward Heavy, or shimmy.
• If I carry to the corner, press with heavies or maintain advantage with a “birdcage.”
• In short, carry to the corner and don’t let them out.

Know Your Character’s Weaknesses

Conversely, to avoid being run over, I considered weaknesses too.

As far as I know, Juri has no “scam” moves, so you can’t win by just spamming one thing, nor does she have moves that reliably take damage from first-time opponents. Against experts this is true anyway, but it can leave her short on finishing power.

On top of that, she has modest base damage; you can’t throw fireballs in quick succession and they’re high-commitment; she’s a bit hard to shimmy with; and her 5F buttons are short. In combos she uses lots of cancels, and to approach she wants to use rush, so Drive runs dry quickly.

She also branches based on Fuhazan stock, which makes situational judgment hard. Not mastering it isn’t fatal, but it covers these downsides, so it’s close to essential.

Pain point: SA2 is too hard for me to use—probably only viable for advanced players. That leaves only SA1 or SA3 in practice, which often means damage is either insufficient or overkill.

With that in mind, I keep the following in my head:

• Watch OD usage carefully; if unsure, don’t spend.
• Watch Fuhazan stock status carefully; practice daily.
• Use SA1 frequently.
• In addition to CR, use raw rush to attack.

Learn the Difference in Spacing

To get knockdowns, I have to land something. That means grounded neutral matters, and so does spacing against the opponent.

Juri’s favorable range seems to be the mid-range where long c.MK and Assist Heavy reach.
As much as possible, I try to maintain this position; if we get close and I have advantage, I’ll swing stand medium first.

If I’m a bit farther, fast rush is useful. Conversely, I don’t have moves that reach from there, so unless I close in there’s not much to do beyond fireballs. Since rush is quite fast, I can instantly threaten throw, medium or Assist M, Assist L (low), or overhead.
Rush overhead in particular gives good damage and is convenient for lethal.

If it’s even farther, there’s little to do. I could charge Fuhazan, but the commitment is large and it often builds naturally, so I decided to walk forward instead.

Actually Land Your Moves

As with any character, convenient moves have big recovery—you’ll get clipped by preemptive buttons, and whiffs get whiff-punished. There are also many moves that are punishable unless you hit at tip.
I felt I lost to this a lot, so I focused on it.
While watching the opponent’s movement, I tried to throw out c.MK and sweep only at ranges where they would actually land. It’s still hard, and I still whiff a lot.

Learn Delayed Throw Tech

Delayed throw tech is the outlaw option that both blocks strikes and techs throws. If you don’t know it, you won’t notice it. It seems practically mandatory, so I practiced it.

I thought “I’m set,” but it loses to shimmy and neutral jump and leads to painful punishes. It’s mind games all the way down.
As a side effect, I recognized the strength of shimmy and started watching whether the opponent was using delayed tech.

Learn How to Close Distance / Forward Walk

Until then I often crouched waiting to react, but I frequently got run over.

So even from ranges I thought were pretty close, I tried inching forward. I could close distance, and the opponent, disliking it, would back themselves toward the corner.
Eventually it became corner, which created favorable situations. As corner neared, they’d panic and force approaches, which I could then catch.

Thus I learned the importance of walking forward: gradually close distance while applying pressure to create favorable space and situations. I still get clipped by preemptive buttons when I walk too much, so I want to get better at switching between guard and walk.

Forward dash is fast, but I often ran into preemptive buttons and couldn’t do anything else, so I’ve stopped using it lately. My mentor also said “no forward dash.”

If I lazily forward jump, I usually get anti-aired (even by C ranks), so unless I’ll land short in front or can cross up, I don’t jump. It’s effective when they aren’t watching the air, and on hit it can lead to max damage, so this might be an area to improve.

Do Okizeme

As mentioned above, I learned around here just how overwhelmingly strong okizeme is.
Learning it seemed to have a big impact on my win rate.

Compared to neutral where there are many variables, okizeme restricts the opponent’s actions and forces a mix.
I also realized that the “corner throw > forward dash makes throw meaty” example is one such sequence.

So I gradually learned okizeme patterns.
I looked up strong set-plays and verified frames in training; for now I’m using the following patterns.

- 蹴り上げ・強化五黄殺 +37
	- 中央
		- 前ステ = +15F
			- 前強 or 下中
			- 僅かに歩いて投げ
			- シミー
	- 端
		- 下中で消費 = +8F（シミー距離）
			- 立中 > アシ大
				- 立中はヒット時は持続、ガード時は距離が開く
			- シミー（動かなくてもシミー距離）
			- ほんのちょっと歩いて投げ
		- アシ弱で消費 +22
			- 弾 (SA1も潰せる)
			- 中段
			- アシ弱 +7 (密着)
- くるくる +28、五黄殺 +27
	- 中央
		- 前ステ > 下中（前ステ投げは入らない）
		- ラッシュ
			- 立ち中 > 立ち中
			- 中段 > 立ち中
			- 小アシで急停止してシミー
			- 投げ
	- 端
		- 立ち中で消費 = +7（密着）
			- 立ち中
			- シミー（少し後ろ下がり）
			- ほんのちょっと待って投げ
- 投げ +25
	- 中央
		- ラッシュ。くるくるとかと同じ
	- 端
		- 前ステ +3
			- 投げ（重なる）
			- 立ち中
			- 投げ読み: バクステ -> アシ大（パニッシュカウンター） > 大風破
			- 遅らせグラ読み: 垂直
			- 無敵読み: 遅らせグラ

Learn to Judge Lethal

I started paying attention to the opponent’s HP and my various gauges to decide whether I could take the round. If lethal is in sight, there’s no need to swing high-risk options. In particular, I watched for around 4000 HP where Down Medium + SA3 can kill.

I’m still far from perfect, and honestly I miss lethal more due to combo drops, but I think this affected my win rate a lot. I learned that reliably closing out rounds is a basic yet deep technique.

Learn Neutral Jump

If there’s a bit of space, neutral jump is relatively low risk. If the opponent does a big-moving, big-recovery move (including Impact), you can dodge and punish.
It was good to add it to my set of options.

Do Defense “Strength Training” Too

I started practice drills to react to lows, overheads, Impact, neutral jump, and cross-ups. As mentioned earlier, it’s just strength training.
It’s probably a bit early, but there’s no harm. I’ll need it anyway, and it also trains reactions to Impact.

Diamond Tier

By this point, I felt I had a decent base of fundamentals. From here I need to increase execution precision, decision-making, and the stability and switching of my combos.

…That said, for me Diamond actually feels easier than Platinum. I hit a bit of a swamp at Diamond 1, but after that I’ve been growing smoothly. I don’t know whether I simply got stronger or it’s the rank where more people bring sub-characters, but my win rate is above 50% and my LP has been increasing by more than 300 per day. I’ll try to keep up the pace.

Be Conscious About Mixing Options

No matter how strong an option is, if you keep doing the same thing it will get countered. If I’m getting blocked often, I add dash-in throw or dash-in overhead; if they tech a lot, I favor strike meaties—consciously mixing my options.

Don’t Mash While Minus

Knowing where you’re minus requires matchup knowledge, and I learn it bit by bit by getting hit.
Across all characters, rush normals and charged moves leave the attacker quite plus; when I block those I try to behave. Of course they also have throw/shimmy from there, so it’s still a mind game.

Looking Back on Ranked

Juri is a fairly standard character, so I think you need to acquire basic FG skills. Maybe because of that, the roughest point was around Platinum 3, where there are more opponents using strong options while you also need solid fundamentals yourself.
Since late Platinum into Diamond I haven’t been stuck in any major swamp so far. I want to believe the basics are sticking, but I’ll likely hit another plateau somewhere.

To close, here are some current issues I’m feeling.

My Own Play

• I go into Burnout here and there
• I don’t use Parry well
• I don’t leverage shimmy enough
• I don’t use Drive Reversal well
  • For some reason I only have it ingrained against Lily’s OD Condor Spire
• I struggle to counter Impact
  • Sometimes I fail to counter even when I’m already wary in the corner; often I’m pressing a different button and it doesn’t come out…
• I drop a lot of combos
• My rush gets stuffed a lot
• I miss lethal
  • Recognition accuracy is always a challenge. I know the common lethal routes, but I still miss win conditions like “they’re in BO and low HP so SA1 on block kills,” “Impact on block kills,” or “a reversal DP will do it.”
• I whiff throw range and grab air
• I walk forward too much and get clipped
• I meaty strike into invincible DPs and explode
• I end up crouching and staring at the opponent a lot
• I’m not doing Drive chip/Drive recovery management

On Defense

• I get scammed by cross-ups
  • I don’t have the FG “muscles,” so when they jump from a cross-up range I can’t instinctively switch to forward in time.
• I eat shimmies a lot
• I get thrown too often

Summary

I organized what I’ve done and learned so far.
I wrote this based on memos I’d kept, and it ended up absurdly long. There’s a lot to think about.

I always had the impression that fighting games are hard to get into, but the more I understand the systems, the more fun they become.
I’ll keep digging in and deepening my understanding over time.