What Are Your Three Worst Fighting Game Tendencies?

Here at toptier, we’re adamant believers in hard work and self-improvement. One of the hardest things about fighting games is that they constantly challenge you to improve – but one of the best things about them is that, by challenging you, they give you the opportunity to improve. Sometimes, though, it can be hard to know where to start.

Luckily, Julien “Wolfgang” Ingram, an Ultra Grand Master Blanka player in Street Fighter V, is leading the way with a recent tweet in which he challenges the Fighting Game Community to name their three biggest flaws:

Name your 3 worst bad tendencies in fighting games. I’ll go:

-I hate doing wakeup ex upball
-I delay jab too much
-It’s hard for me to commit to a counterpick

— 🎃野蛮人WEREWOLFGANG🎃 (@wolfgangfinito) October 18, 2019

As you can see, Ingram’s own flaws span the whole range of fighting game habits, from game-specific tech (delay jab) to game planning and risk management (when to do a reversal on wakeup) to meta-gaming (counterpicks). By naming these tendencies, Ingram allows himself to approach them rationally. He can develop a game plan for each of them, practice that game plan, and then return afterwards to see whether or not he’s progressing.

Players at every level can benefit from this type of honesty and self-reflection. Some of the players who’ve responded to Ingram cite “input clumsiness” or dropped combos among their weaknesses. Others discuss more nuanced issues, such as a willingness “to continue to trade and brawl with health leads.” No matter what your particular habits are, admitting them to yourself – or to your friends on Twitter – is an important first step towards polishing your game and growing as a player.

Of course, even if you know what you need to work on, you may not know where to start. Luckily, we’re here to help. Whether you’re looking for tips on execution, a guide to forming a gameplan, or techniques for breaking out of beliefs that are holding you back, our training section can help you turn your bad habits into good ones – and it’s always growing! Tag us @toptiergg with your bad habits on Twitter, and check back here regularly to learn more about how to grow, learn, and adapt!