LogFAQs > #967710150

Being able to recognize your opponent's tendencies, their attack & defense patterns, and knowing just what they are or are not capable of.... is helpful too.

- knowing the rules of Rock Paper Scissors (water beats fire, so and so attacks have invincibility, etc)
- recognizing that your opponent momentarily forgot that your special meter is fully charged, or that you can teleport instead of exchanging projectiles
- honing in on what attacks your opponent is just having fun with ("mixing it up") vs which attacks are actually causing you to lose to them

Etc

Like, I just don't learn long combos. If you ever wanna beat me in a fighting game, learn those 40%\60% HP-draining combos, and how to be real cheap with pulling them off, because I try to "play fair" by leaving openings too, and I'm essentially toast. Some people don't recognize how to do that. Everyone has a weakness outside of E-sports or other high level play. When the going gets tough in MK, for example, I'll just spam uppercut or sweep or grab or whatever as my way of "comboing", which is absolutely deadly to a newbie or low level computer opponent. If you don't have those combos or adequate spam yourself, it's game over.