How To Form A Gameplan.

There is an aspect Of learning fighting Games that goes relatively undiscussed in most general spaces, and that's building up a strategy, a game plan that you can always rely on when playing your character, a way to break down scenarios when you are playing against someone else, or their character. When most people pick up their characters, they ask about the basics of their characters, questions like "What are my anti-airs / pokes?", "What combos should I go for, what are my BnBs?" or "What do I do on my opponent's wakeup? / What do I do for oki?" are all questions that come to mind, and they're all extremely important questions when learning a character, these are questions you should ask, and everything after you can ask when the time comes; however, with everything there's always a hole and that's understanding what your character wants to do, but not really caring or paying attention to what your opponent wants to do.

When forming a gameplan, there are multiple things to take into account:

- What You Have To Do

- What Your Opponent Has To Do

- What Your Character Has To Do Against Your Opponent's Character (and vice versa)

We can split all those categories into two subcategories, let's call them "Fundamentals" and "Variables" for now.

Fundamentals can be defined as things that are integral to your gameplay, what buttons you press, what you want to always go for, what things remain (mostly) static. An example would be concepts like "Ryu crMK being a mainstay poke" or "Always cancel Ryu crHK into fireball for the frame advantage".

Variables can be defined as things that constantly change that depend on the stage of the match you're in, how you play Round 1 compared to Round 2 as an example. These things can change and they will have to depending on what the matchup is, what your opponent is like, etc. An example is Urien's gameplan before and after he gains the meter for Aegis Reflector (or Chun let's say). Whether you need to take a button away or adjust your spacing depending on how your opponent responds. This is constantly changing, and there's a hierarchy of needs when it comes to how you tackle through the variables.

Fundamentals (overall) will be what you always do.

The variables come in the form of "Player" and "Matchup"

So in a flowchart, this would be something like:

Sometimes, Player Variables/Fundamentals will go hand in hand and dance around each other, that will be addressed in detail later.

Let's break down every single category, we'll be using Zangief vs Ryu (ST) from the perspective of Zangief as our example matchup here for now.

-----

Fundamentals

Zangief vs Ryu in Super Turbo is in Zangief's favor, so we'll keep that in mind.

The buttons I will always use are the following: stMK, crHK, stLK and his LP buttons. I've broken it down to these four normals because ultimately this is a very grounded matchup with very little reason for Zangief to jump in, but in general Zangief has a solid footsies game so that line up of buttons will. jHP can be used to jump fireballs and jHK can be used to make anti-airs whiff but because I play Zangief very grounded, this isn't a necessity for me unless I am playing a matchup that requires me to make risks.

Meter is not a necessity as Zangief because outside of punishes, 720 is kind of useless, it's a nice cash out super but the setups outside of guaranteed punishes are not strong and can be predictable. I don't use 720s in super serious play.

My gameplan as Zangief is almost always going to be, play footsies until I score a knockdown, and then run setplay off of knockdowns. I will always green hand after every command grab I land to inch in closer, this is nonnegotiable as there is no risk for me to get closer while the opponent is knocked down.

I will always try to push them to the corner as well.

I do NOT use Running Bear Grab, and I do NOT use Atomic Suplex , the latter arguably more controversially because it does great damage and will corner the opponent better than other options, but I feel as if SPD does the job well enough for me.

None of this is going to change, I will always formulate my strategy around these normals.

When you're looking into other matchups, you're looking at what you (or your character) always want to do. These will most likely never change, hence, why they're called fundamentals.

-----

Matchup Fundamentals

Ryu vs Zangief in the footsies game is pretty much Zangief favored, Ryu's important normals would be normals like: crLK, crMK, crHK, stLP. Zangief stMK deals with all of these with the exception of stand jab, which is mainly used to lock Zangief into place due to proximity guard.

Ryu’s crLK can be troublesome but eating a few crLKs here and there isn’t exactly the most worrying thing, but it can be annoying for sure.

Moving as Zangief is a lot of walk and blocking if you aren't lariating fireballs. This is important because Ryus will want to score a knockdown with their lows or score free hits because you are walking at them. Walk and blocking is a good way to move and not have to get hit by attacks because you're trying to reposition yourself.

The fireballs are not gonna come into play the same way as something like Zangief vs Guile. I can lariat fireballs at a safe range to avoid eating chip damage, and lariat fireballs at closer ranges to punish bad fireballs. That way I can directly punish fireballs with a knockdown without having to trade. I can also crHK to score a trade with a fireball, the knockdown nets me some time to get closer even if it does trade, and I can usually set something off that or bait something. This never changes for me, the gameplan is solid enough that I do not have to change this.

I will play footsies until they reach the corner or I knock them down.

My okizeme will also always be the same depending on my knockdown.

Knockdown With MP Throw? Safejump with Splash or jd+LK if the throw isn't softened, or Safetick with stLK or stLP if the throw is.

Knockdown with SPD? Green hand to get in and then safetick with stLP or stLK

Knockdown with Sweep? Inch in and safetick. This does not change.

I'll always punish jumps with stLP or jHK, I'll always punish tatsus with crHP or crLP, and I'll always punish whiffed or sometimes blocked DPs with SPD.

When I have them in the corner? I'll play a strong spacing game until they sit down and block so they can eat a SPD, but what if they don't? That's when matchup and player variables come into play.

Let's recap, Matchup Fundamentals are what I always go for in a matchup, these can be loosely related to what you will always do regardless of a matchup, but what character you're playing against leads into different plans entirely.

-----

Matchup Variables

Matchup Variables can be loosely tied with Player Variables. The difference is MVs relate to the differences in stages in the matchup and your approach to said stages, not necessarily how the opponent plays the game related to the stage.

Let's give an example here, and I'll try not to get too wordy because if I sat down and listed every single different.

Ryu has Shinkuu Hadoken, which is one of the best supers in the game, it's an invuln fireball that is plus enough on block that Ryu can walk up and force a 50/50 strike/throw AS WELL AS a 50/50 high low.

Shinkuu changes the matchup and it changes how you approach the fireball game. While yes, lariat invulns through it, when the opponent gets the meter, it's an option that the opponent can use on wakeup, unlike DP or Tatsu, this is not as easy to bait, so the goal is making the Ryu waste his meter. 

Ryus may just throw it out in response to a lariat to make you block it or they do it on your wakeup to make you block it, if you reversal lariat they can then sweep you for it or back off.

Another example can be Makoto in 3S, how they play the game can also relate to what super they pick, the way you approach the matchup when they pick SA1 or SA2 is effectively two different matchups because of they use their meter and how dangerous certain moves become depending on the super, famously, her command grab when she has SA2 stocked is a One Touch Kill, but during SA1 might just be a reset unless she has SA1 stocked, which means you're eating maybe 60%?

Matchup Variables can relate to the stages of a matchup and how you have to approach the matchup different. This can even be things like how different the matchup is played when you're going from Round 1 or Round 2 depending on the meter. (This doesn't apply to ST as the meter is reset every round, but this can relate to 3rd Strike or Gear because Burst doesn't reset and you carry your meter from the previous round going into the next round)

-----

Player Fundamentals

Over the course of playing the game, you will find that, you know what? Players will sometimes act the same way regardless. Let's use a different matchup as an example here. Let's use Dictator vs Guile

If to close out a round, I have my opponent in the corner and then I do Psycho Crusher to side swap and then rising jMK as an instant overhead. Most players, unless they're psychic, block same side, MAYBE different side, but they block low. Mashing something other than throw there doesn't work because your reversal will go the wrong way so you don't have to worry about that.

Another example is if someone is close to stun or death? They'll typically do something to avoid dying there, and you can respond to that. Most people I feel try to tech in situations like that, so I'll walk back and whiff punish whatever they try to do. Not related to any particular game in this scenario.

This is less related to the matchup, than it is related to how a player responds to a situation. Think of it like running a scenario 10 times and looking for an average, that average is what becomes "Player Fundamentals". 

-----

Player Variables

Back to Zangief for a second, because the opponent is playing against a grappler, they ultimately are gonna be put into situations where they have to guess, how your opponent responds is how you change your gameplan around your opponent.

Let's say I do jLK safejump into crLPx3, SPD, if they mash on that SPD, I know they'll probably want to get out of there, which means they aren't willing to sit still, which means I'll try to wait them out and see if they're too scared to press anything this time, eventually this can turn into Player Fundamentals, but the data collecting aspect can also just be used for THAT particular player.

This also plays into the part of risk assessment, is your opponent running away from you after a knockdown really that detrimental to you? Do you always have to push advantage, mind games play a big part of variables and the adaptations / counter-adaptations add the context that every single decision you make can add to what you and your opponent are both aware of now. You don’t do a particular overhead until the very end of the set? It will probably work because your opponent wasn’t looking for it during the set whatsoever. Scenarios like that come into play when thinking about player variables.

In relation to the corner as mentioned in the Matchup section, this can also mean whether they panic and jump out of the corner instead of fighting their way out on the ground.

It could also be things like "My opponent likes using this particular normal in this specific scenario" and adapting to that scenario as a response.

It can loosely be tied to Matchup Variables like what was said during the small snippet of 3S Makoto, and how the matchup and their approach changes depending on what super they're running.

Player Fundamentals can feel like they change in a flash depending on what your opponent does and how you respond to what your opponent does. This is such a mindgame focused aspect that this is easily the most unstable aspect of learning and forming a strategy, as since you are almost fighting a player when you are on equal footing, you constantly have to dance around the difference between player fundamentals and player variables.

In short, Player Variables relates to adaptations and counter-adaptations, which can tie in with Player Fundamentals as well.

-----

A Checklist I keep In Mind:

I always keep a checklist in mind when I am approaching a player or a matchup, and I always fall back into this. These are mostly example questions and you can expand or simplify further depending on your needs.

Fundamentals - What Will I Always Do? What Are My Most Important Normals Irregardless Of The Matchup

Matchup Fundamentals - What Are My Strongest/Weakest Tools Against That Particular character?

Matchup Variables - What Do I Have To Look Out For When My Opponent Has Bar? What Super or ISM / Groove Did My Opponent Pick?

Player Fundamentals - What Do Players Like To Do In Specific Scenarios? Will This Work On Other People?

Player Variables - What Does THIS Player Like To Do In Specific Scenarios? Are They Scared Of What I'm Throwing At Them? What Are They Doing That I Can Respond to?

All of this forms a strategy that I can always fall back to, if I feel lost, I always run that checklist in my head quickly before going back into things and hopefully I can work out what the issue is before going into the next game.

Good Luck.