JDCR saying "dont play high level tekken with yourself" helped me a lot. I would force a cool mixup I learned and get blown up instead of capitalising on weaknesses I could see in my opponents gameplay (free to throws, whiffs, etc). I noticed by just simplifying my gameplan to make less room for error helped me a lot, even if it looks cheesy as hell from the opponents perspective.
Yep, you are your worst enemy. You can get out of yellow ranks by just punishing with jab strings or abusing safe but linear strings against players who play 2d tekken. No need to do anything super fancy.
It's still like this. Focus on learning the game and your character. You may lose decent amount of matches but overtime if you stick with the game (with taking mental breaks) you will better and it WILL show
@@Eskolol This sounds funny but your comment helped me alot, of course it's not like I suddenly became good at Tekken but I stopped relying entirely on the 50/50s firsthand and more so in actually reading my opponent, testing my jabs after the opponent attacks lets me read if the frame allows me to punish them or not, I started relying more on moves that leave me better on frame especially ones on +, heck I even sidestepped once in a while to encourage whiffing, shocker !!
Launching staggered lows, learning most launch punishable moves, and whiff punishing panic hopkicks carried me so far in T7. Panic hopkicks were the panic rage arts of the oranges and reds.
@@exiledhebrew1994 That's actually all you need to get to red ranks. Block, punish, movement, key moves. I got to red ranks by playing full Tekken 7, so... yeah.
@@sawdust8691a big weakness Victor has is the fact that all of his lows start at -13 on block and they only get more minus make sure you don’t let them get away with lows The other best thing is to sidestep his wile running 2 it’s plus 5 and leads to crazy pressure also his forward 1+2 has crazy range but it’s very easily sidestepped these two tips should make them respect you more
@@professoremiltrue I'm brand new to Tekken and so far I haven't struggled against Victor they play to unsafe but im only Warrior rank so probably haven't played a good Victor yet I will say however I'm really struggling against Lili she seems to have crazy range and it feels like there always plus
I'm not gonna lie I feel like a grumpy old man watching other people play easier characters get to where I'm at which is vanquisher much faster while I'm over here playing steve having to work twice as hard to win a match. But that's my fault for playing steve so I also can't complain either lol.
I loved the way you explain changes in a gameplan depending on what the opponent does. I would love to see more of that maybe with different characters. Simple but effective base for gameplan.
Whiff punishment, block punishment and frametraps carry you quite far, especially because people are still mashing a lot even when you get to red division.
I'm struggling with whiff punishing way more than I have in any other game, people are whiffing big buttons but if I try to punish I more often get blown up.
@@PhiDX trying so hard to not spoil myself with big moves to cheese games and rely on jabbing, keeping some distance, and mid checks. do you have any videos covering how to strengthen or train your fundamentals? sorry if you do - just found your channel and find you as entertaining and informative as one of the streamers i watch piratesoftware.,
I’m new to Tekken so I just found you. I have loosely understood these concepts as I’ve been learning fighting games over the last 2-3 years. You’re a fantastic teacher. Everything is just clicking so well instantly. Thanks for helping us new ppl with fundamentals
Fundamentally, you come up with an attack plan like how Phi says (Frame traps, small mix ups) can get you to a certain stage. Until then if you wanna go further you have to learn the basics of defense. Because lets face it defense is a lot harder than offense, esp. in Tekken 8 now. So if you wanna rank up, run your offense smoothly. If you wanna get better, you learn defense either by labbing a lot or play a lot
I almost always recommend your guides to people I know that are just starting to play Tekken, or those who are picking it up again. Cause ngl, I think fighting game players love to overcomplicate things for some reason - while you lay it out straight and simplified that there would be no excuse to not understand what's going on.
Interesting video with the attack style and the timing, I think you really did a fantastic job on this video while explaining every step you did while fighting. Not many people in the community explain it so well as you do. Super job, I would see more videos with other characters like this in the future from you, many thanks.
I can confirm, this works!! I was just starting to feel like I was plateauing but this got me through to Orange ranks. I'm playing Zafina, so I really learned to use my plus frames from ff3 into scarecrow, and even my slower dashing moves that put me in scarecrow and tarantula. I learned my counter hit options from those stances and it's helped a ton. When I'd lose games I'd always think the opponent was bullying me, but when I looked at my replays I'd always see myself playing really defensive and waiting for the opponent to come to me, then getting comboed/counter-hit/knowledge-checked. Once you're in yellow people stop whiffing so much, so I was letting people run in on me waiting for them to do something punishable. It's a lot easier to play and focus on defense and the opponent's strings and habits when you've got your offensive gameplan down like this. If you play defensive you're opening the gates of every move your opponent has, if you play around plus frames (and generally running some type of offence) you're limiting the moves they can do. I still owe the rank up to in part to playing a lot, learning key moves of other characters, decent punishment on their moves and launchers, and every time I'm up against a move that destroys me, I lab it for next time. I don't want people thinking this video is all you need!
This video has helped me shift my mindset and instantly helped me start winning more even at ruler (i know its not super high) but playing from the strength of my character. having a simple game plan till i need to change it ect. Another fire video phi.
I feel like execution wise decent tekken isn’t terribly difficult so keeping a very basic gameplan is smart and a lot of people don’t really realize that. They swing hard and dangerously. I’m very thankful for your videos. You say stuff people need to hear.
true, most cast has 5-10 great moves to rely on and 3-5 good punishers it's just for beginners its so hard for them to not press and block/use movement
I think the most important part of getting out of yellow rank for someone who's new to Tekken is learning the fundementals and how to apply them. This is my first fighting game I am taking seriously and it has helped me immensely.
I struggle with throws too. I hate when people use my strategy against me, which is grab them at every opportunity 😂. It's not as fun when they do it back. I gotta practice breaking throws.
As someone who started playing Tekken with 8, if there is one thing that destroys me at the end of yellow ranks is my inability to open people up, while I'll inevitably eat one combo and then sit at 50% hp while I'm at the wall so one knowledge check either puts me below 30% or outright kills me (Hi Dargunov). Compound that with King, who can skip a huge part of the opening up part (which destroys me) and characters like Asuka, who can launch with a low and it's all downhill from there.
Hey Phi, I've been watching you since I started playing Tekken(last week) and this video is probably the one that opened my eyes the most :D. I'm not sure why, your beginner guide video was great, but something about seeing mechanics mentioned there in action really did it for me. Cheers!
Good video, very informative! I used some sort of this style the other day, trying to trust the process! And I must say it was the only time I went undefeated during an online session! Thanks again, for the content!
I remember being stuck in green and yellow ranks in TTT2, now I'm at red ranks in this game. It feels so much better from studying and practicing yet there's still so much more for me to learn
I feel bad for the scrubs. As long as you are yellow ranks, and as long as Im ranking every character to red, you guys are Doomed to be in the yellow ranks for eternity
@@LucaRT88 I used to struggle with it a lot and ended up using 1,2,4 as my 10f punishment for quite a while. My advice is trying to replace 1,2,4 for acid rain every time even if you don't get it right, because you may be able to do it on practice mode, but it is very common to get stressed during battle and mess it up. Keep up the excellence!! :D
One of my biggest changes in Tekken has been playing as Steve again, I mained Negan (to very little success - not even reaching green in Tekken 7). Now I'm taking my time and making use of dodges to get quick smacks in on the opponent and it has been getting me wins as a yellow against browns!! It feels good to beat someone at such a seemingly unachievable rank
'Odds are people don't understand what I'm doing.' That's me in Tekken. I don't understand what people are doing. I'm playing my game. It doesn't work? Too bad, I didn't learn anything anyway. When I look at high lvl players I don't understand what makes them good other than their movement. Like people doing 0 combo but just spamming high, mids, lows. I lost because I just can't block, I don't know my opponent's moves, there are too many of them. I also have a bad habit of blocking low, either that or I force myself to low parry everything until it works for some reason although the real threat are mids and launchers. I tried only blocking while standing, it doesn't work either because defense doesn't work in this game. You get hit once (that will happen anyway) that's 50% hp gone. So I'm working on my offense and I'm sitting at 80k rating. It works better than working on defense. If your opponent doesn't get to play, no need for defense. Bad design in my opinion but kinda understandable for T8 where T7 was defense oriented I heard.
Usually when i get beat really bad i go back and try to lab things that beat me. However with T8 you can use the Replay feature. Id argue thats the perfect tool to help take alot of players to the next level.
I think what makes tekken such a beautiful game is that it supports so many styles and can be played well yet so differently. I'm more of an intermediate player, I dabbled in T7 a bit but I still enjoy watching content geared towards beginners. From what I've seen most players advice different things to beginners but it all seems to be solid advice, rooted in a playstyle, like phidx will advise you to let the oponent hang themselves and play pretty defensively, jdcr will emphasize the importance of movement and quick poking or TMM would advice you to keep things simple and to optimize punishment.
New to Tekken. 18% win rate. Been demoted to green like 50 times lmao. I feel like im never getting matched with people of similar skill to me. I played 150 matches and 0 of my opponents dropped any launcher combis. ZERO. I drop mines all the time. Which leads me to beleive im playing people who arent new to the game.
as a beginner this is hella confusing, what's happening here when he's talking frame trap? So I guess he has a super fast move and opponent can't block that?
When I first saw this, I was Blue. Now I’m almost Red. Something that helped me was having my frame traps noted down & some key-moves from popular characters.
Your advice is 100% correct. I just get so frustrated when people block up for days refusing to *ever initiate* . Like is they lose, they are going into the losers bracket at EVO. I noticed this way more once I go to about mid Red/Low purple ranks, where people are trying to dial in as hard as possible to rank up. Which is fine, I just prefer playing people who are willing to mix it up in close quarters with a side of occasional yolo. Cause I'm really still at the point where I'm just trying to have fun, and not sweating for rank.
I like to activate heat and either immediately down 2 off of the dash and go into a combo if it hits. If it’s blocked dash again into his up12 throw. Works everytime
You can sidestep the running the move , OR you can also do a sidestep right to evade the 1+2 from victor to launch him for that obvious frame trap. (If i remember correctly) . So you have 2 options, if the victor is predictable and a one trick pony. You also have power crush or a rage art as… more risky options, that might even work if the victor uses faster options and not 1+2. in case you are wondering what you can do after you block the wr2. Thanks for the video phidx.
Fax! This why I love tekken as a legacy game cuz learning and knowing the fundamentals will carry u thru the gist of all games.... This is why I can rank high without having to lab
Honestly, while the Bo3 makes the game harder to learn, it also forces you to improve if you want to climb. While playing Tekken 8, I can't believe how much I relied on being able to keep rematch and taking my time to download opponents, and now that I don't have that luxury of rematching, I gotta up my game and ability to read opponents.
I'm higher rank than the players you made this video for, but honestly this gave me some really good ideas to use and look out for online in my own gameplay. Great video!
Tbh as a veteran player, the hardest thing to adapt to is people doing a whole bunch of damage with one button, I went from clutching close games to losing to people because someone used a rage art or a heat burst and completely washed me
Thanks so much for your videos, theyve opened my eyes to so much as a newbie to the series. Its super cool seeing all of these concepts in action, it really helps to see it come together and be able to apply these things myself as well. I hope you dont mind me asking but you mentioned getting familiar with what other characters can do and I wasnt sure if it would be better to jot down the notation or also the names of moves too?. Ig it depends on the person ofc but i figured Id ask anyway haha
Shaheens heat gives f,b2 free blue spark and makes it 13f startup which makes any of his CH or guard breaks guarantee it. Most of his moves become plus/more plus on block which sets up his slide mix up and CHs and his chip is increased by quite a lot. CH ws1, f,b2 for example deletes all grey health and is around 55 dmg and gives decent oki. CH b3 df4,3 at wall can lead to around 85 Dmg with pickup more or less depending on the walls and hazards on the stage. TLDR Shaheens heat is about fishing for CH's to delete grey health.
You pick another character, like I did, to realize you don't have to suffer more than you need to, especially when you're new at tekken and don't understand all the basics.
Talking about BO3 queues, "it keeps the queue alive because people in Tekken 7 would just deathmatch". Daaamn. I kinda didn't like BO3 queues, but when you put it like that, daaaamn. Absolutely right. I used to play maybe 2 opponents a day in T7. It was pretty cyclical looking back on in with that perspective. Wait in queue forever, then keep rematching so I don't have to wait in queue forever.
I’d learn the punishes for universal moves all of the characters share Most characters wile running moves are crazy plus early ranks who know that will abuse it it’s good to try and sidestep them Lab your movement (every time before you go online) Make sure you have your bnbs and wall combos learned you don’t want to leave damage on the table especially with how fast this game is Frame traps are very good but it’s good to Learn how to use them to your advantage for example after punishing a low or a hop kick you have a lot of frames to work with : also learn how being slightly minus can help you for instance being -1 to -3. You can sidestep afterwards most people early on mash to much Hopefully this helps don’t forget to lab a little the more you play practice makes perfect
Can you make a video about TAA? Giving more options to players will provide more clarity to the game while in motion. Hopefully some awareness about the issue will help grease the wheels in getting these settings added to the game
The real good range for fighting is one backdash away. It makes a vacuum which agressive players want to fill in as soon as possible, with the biggest, most far-reaching move they have, which also deals the most damage because it's so big. What it also is, is predictable, and slow on recovery. So the gameplan should be: *backdash* , keep that distance with your opponent (dance with him, keep him on axis), *allow him to swing and miss* , and *then punish* accordingly. Rinse and repeat. Your opponent will start pushing bigger and heavier buttons, giving you more chances to launch him for a combo.
You're actually correct, but I think yellow/orange is too soon to apply this. Frame trap offense is the starting point, what you're describing is my idea of getting out of red/purple
I've been floating in the middle of Destroyer(Orange) for some time now. But This gives some insight. Plus as a bear player I can't be whiffing my attacks like I do so recklessly.
i was stuck in warrior for like three days then one day i started climbing a little bit , u dont even notice how much better you get over time just kind of happens right before your eyes
That's one thing I don't understand, you say to play frames and use moves that are + on block. I play Jin and almost everything is - on block, I'm doing okay ish but I feel like I'm missing something 🤔
@@PhiDX Yep, trying to use it as effective as possible, as well with breaking step. Besides that Zenshin (b/f 3+4) Has + on block with 2 and 3+4 Both a bit risky to use tho. Any other ones you know of I might have missed?
@@NneonNTJRunning 3. Not every character has a bunch of big plus on block moves. It's equally important to look at plus on hit moves, that's how you build momentum. Look at the moves in neutral you hit frequently and go from there. Even a simple df1 on hit opens up a million options.
Hi PhiDX, quick question here: can we say that an equivalent of this Victor strat with King would be doing FFn1+2 in the neutral and fishing for the counter hit and then for guaranteed follow-up? So, FFn1+2, wait for CH, then F21?
A gimmick is something that works until the opponent figures it out. Solid tactics also smash people who don't understand them, but they don't stop being strong when people know about them.
4:15 You mention that it's important to keep in mind that tekken 8 is more about offense than defense compared to tekken 7. How would you say tekken 8 gameplay affects Lee?(someone who usually struggles to play the offensive game)
Honestly right now it's pretty easy to climb the ranks. I'm currently in yellow ranks on reina (learning her but haven't had the time) by basically just using 1, 1, 2 (forgot that holding F is a stance), db2, and ff3 mix up. That's genuinely pretty much all that I'm doing besides defence.
I would just like to add I'm not a great tekken player by any means either. I'm noob as heck. Sure this game is all about trying to be the bus driver, but from what I've been seeing if you just be patient you'll win most matches. I still get rolled by old heads but it is what it is.
I usually can't use my high frame moves because they have so much startup, and most of my opponenents just use fast or evasive moves. It's so frustrating. I try to set up frametraps, but I am hardly ever given a chance.
Im new to Tekken and trying to learn Victor so this video was especially helpful, but could someone explain to me what combo he is doing at 1:13? I'm not totally familiar yet with all the terminology like "frame trapping" and such so any clarification would be much appreciated!
@@PhiDX thanks for clarifying. I'm a noob and was going nuts trying to get this to work. 😅 Is there something I'm missing? Sometimes it works if I do it, other times it does a different move, an upwards slash of sorts. Can't figure it out
I was stuck in purple ranks. And couldn't figure why, cause I knew that those who killed me were less experienced than me. So I spent an afternoon replaying all those matches with the new replay feature. Today I finally hit the blue ranks😂
What tips would you have against people who only want to use jabs lows and grabs repeatedly. For example they might throw 1-3 jabs, see that it isn't working, switch to a low that knocks you off your feet or a grab...I guess basically they are being over safe I guess but the way they attack doesn't really give any time to react or get any punishes in
Okay, got it. I wonder what the next step looks like then? What if two good opponents face off each other who know all this? How do you create openings?
Hi PhidX, I love your videos and I am learning a lot. I am also recommending your videos to my friends who are new to fighting games and Tekken. I want to ask for a Steve tutorial. Having played Marduk in T7, I am having a hard time trying to learn Steve. Especially how to input his commands for his stance cancels for example.
I love your guide videos is there a way you could show us xiaoyu, I’ve been maining her a lot since I’ve gotten in tekken and I would love to hear your opinion on her setup
Never even played Tekken 7 even though I wanted to. But my mentality and play style with fighting games makes me feel like Tekken 7 was the game I should have started learning. I have typically found myself comfortable learning defence first and then frustrating people into giving me the openings I need to attack. But I die a lot playing Tekken 8 with this mindset. Maybe I'll still be able to play like that as I get more familiar with the game and rank up to better ranks with more cautious players?
So how exactly do u find a characters frame traps? How plus do you need to be? Does the move after the plus move need to launch on counter hit? I'm still confused about the details of frame traps.
Think of it like this: If you are plus 5 your opponents jab is effectively 15 frames. Do that math to figure out how your good counterhit buttons match up vs their options. Btw you aren't guaranteed to win that interaction, if you do a really slow move or if they block a laggy move you'll still be punished.
You need to be plus enough so that a 10 frame jab loses or trades to whatever you do next. +4? Your 13 frame or faster move will win. +6? Your 15 frame or faster move will win. Anything up to -9 is considered safe. The move doesn't have to be anything. It's just that a safe counter hit launcher is a pretty big reward, especially if you know it can't be interrupted. Depends on the character's strengths.
I never got out of blue rank is tekken 7, so I’m glad to finally be in yellow ranks comfortably. So play frames, watch your opponent with their tendencies, and simplify your gameplay don’t get too technical. Basically play at their level until they play at your level 😜 From mainmanswe, don’t show your whole hand. Keep doing what works. Watch if they adapt or if you should just continue. Capitalize on those mistakes. Learn with defense and patience when its your turn and what is punishable by negative frames
JDCR saying "dont play high level tekken with yourself" helped me a lot. I would force a cool mixup I learned and get blown up instead of capitalising on weaknesses I could see in my opponents gameplay (free to throws, whiffs, etc). I noticed by just simplifying my gameplan to make less room for error helped me a lot, even if it looks cheesy as hell from the opponents perspective.
Yep, you are your worst enemy. You can get out of yellow ranks by just punishing with jab strings or abusing safe but linear strings against players who play 2d tekken.
No need to do anything super fancy.
I was thinking the same thing few hours ago before watching this I’m going for fancy combos and stuff instead of playing smart
It's still like this. Focus on learning the game and your character. You may lose decent amount of matches but overtime if you stick with the game (with taking mental breaks) you will better and it WILL show
Nah do the cool moves. Play private with people you know aren’t corny
@@Eskolol This sounds funny but your comment helped me alot, of course it's not like I suddenly became good at Tekken but I stopped relying entirely on the 50/50s firsthand and more so in actually reading my opponent, testing my jabs after the opponent attacks lets me read if the frame allows me to punish them or not, I started relying more on moves that leave me better on frame especially ones on +, heck I even sidestepped once in a while to encourage whiffing, shocker !!
Launching staggered lows, learning most launch punishable moves, and whiff punishing panic hopkicks carried me so far in T7. Panic hopkicks were the panic rage arts of the oranges and reds.
Yup!! Fundamentalsss
"spend thousands of hours studying the game"
@@cmg3988none of that message requires thousands of hours studying the game
@@PhiDX lol; noobs don’t know how to block and punish. Is that all you really need to get to red rank?
@@exiledhebrew1994 That's actually all you need to get to red ranks. Block, punish, movement, key moves. I got to red ranks by playing full Tekken 7, so... yeah.
You are so good at analyzing the opponent's behaviour and putting that analysis into words for an audience in real time. Good stuff
It is actually crazy. Great teacher
I could watch you play ranked and discuss your internal monologue for hours man. Very informative & entertaining, good stuff!
My mind as a Viktor main: “Random bullsh*t, GO!!!!”
Then your opponent starts jabbing through the phase teleport and every Victor main across the world collectively cries out in despair. 😂
So true😂.
But it's really annoying when the opponent realizes he can punish me really easily and forces me to not use random BS. Sad.
@@sawdust8691a big weakness Victor has is the fact that all of his lows start at -13 on block and they only get more minus make sure you don’t let them get away with lows
The other best thing is to sidestep his wile running 2 it’s plus 5 and leads to crazy pressure also his forward 1+2 has crazy range but it’s very easily sidestepped these two tips should make them respect you more
Hilarious comment 😂😂😂
@@professoremiltrue I'm brand new to Tekken and so far I haven't struggled against Victor they play to unsafe but im only Warrior rank so probably haven't played a good Victor yet I will say however I'm really struggling against Lili she seems to have crazy range and it feels like there always plus
Says another character is one dimensional and gets bored then proceeds to use Victor with his y,y,y,y,y,y,y combo
but victor is so fun LOL
@@mongrel1308 absolutely 😂 nothing better than teleporting when they think it’s safe to attack.
Lol Victor is just like Noctis in that regard
I'm not gonna lie I feel like a grumpy old man watching other people play easier characters get to where I'm at which is vanquisher much faster while I'm over here playing steve having to work twice as hard to win a match. But that's my fault for playing steve so I also can't complain either lol.
@@rrrlee1273I feel the same as a lee player. Feels bad man.
I loved the way you explain changes in a gameplan depending on what the opponent does. I would love to see more of that maybe with different characters. Simple but effective base for gameplan.
I don’t usually comment but just had to say your videos are clear, concise and easy to understand. Makes understanding Tekken so approachable.
Whiff punishment, block punishment and frametraps carry you quite far, especially because people are still mashing a lot even when you get to red division.
The bare necessities!
That’s how I got to vanquisher. Whiff punishing and counter hits 😂
@@PhiDX
The bear necessities: 🐻🐼
I'm struggling with whiff punishing way more than I have in any other game, people are whiffing big buttons but if I try to punish I more often get blown up.
@@PhiDX trying so hard to not spoil myself with big moves to cheese games and rely on jabbing, keeping some distance, and mid checks. do you have any videos covering how to strengthen or train your fundamentals? sorry if you do - just found your channel and find you as entertaining and informative as one of the streamers i watch piratesoftware.,
I’m new to Tekken so I just found you. I have loosely understood these concepts as I’ve been learning fighting games over the last 2-3 years. You’re a fantastic teacher. Everything is just clicking so well instantly. Thanks for helping us new ppl with fundamentals
Fundamentally, you come up with an attack plan like how Phi says (Frame traps, small mix ups) can get you to a certain stage. Until then if you wanna go further you have to learn the basics of defense. Because lets face it defense is a lot harder than offense, esp. in Tekken 8 now.
So if you wanna rank up, run your offense smoothly. If you wanna get better, you learn defense either by labbing a lot or play a lot
Thank you for explaining on stream and releasing the video. I mentioned being hardstuck in yellow ranks and doing what you thought me really helps
I almost always recommend your guides to people I know that are just starting to play Tekken, or those who are picking it up again. Cause ngl, I think fighting game players love to overcomplicate things for some reason - while you lay it out straight and simplified that there would be no excuse to not understand what's going on.
Interesting video with the attack style and the timing, I think you really did a fantastic job on this video while explaining every step you did while fighting.
Not many people in the community explain it so well as you do.
Super job, I would see more videos with other characters like this in the future from you, many thanks.
I can confirm, this works!! I was just starting to feel like I was plateauing but this got me through to Orange ranks. I'm playing Zafina, so I really learned to use my plus frames from ff3 into scarecrow, and even my slower dashing moves that put me in scarecrow and tarantula. I learned my counter hit options from those stances and it's helped a ton.
When I'd lose games I'd always think the opponent was bullying me, but when I looked at my replays I'd always see myself playing really defensive and waiting for the opponent to come to me, then getting comboed/counter-hit/knowledge-checked. Once you're in yellow people stop whiffing so much, so I was letting people run in on me waiting for them to do something punishable.
It's a lot easier to play and focus on defense and the opponent's strings and habits when you've got your offensive gameplan down like this. If you play defensive you're opening the gates of every move your opponent has, if you play around plus frames (and generally running some type of offence) you're limiting the moves they can do.
I still owe the rank up to in part to playing a lot, learning key moves of other characters, decent punishment on their moves and launchers, and every time I'm up against a move that destroys me, I lab it for next time. I don't want people thinking this video is all you need!
This video has helped me shift my mindset and instantly helped me start winning more even at ruler (i know its not super high) but playing from the strength of my character. having a simple game plan till i need to change it ect. Another fire video phi.
I feel like execution wise decent tekken isn’t terribly difficult so keeping a very basic gameplan is smart and a lot of people don’t really realize that. They swing hard and dangerously. I’m very thankful for your videos. You say stuff people need to hear.
true, most cast has 5-10 great moves to rely on and 3-5 good punishers it's just for beginners its so hard for them to not press and block/use movement
I think the most important part of getting out of yellow rank for someone who's new to Tekken is learning the fundementals and how to apply them. This is my first fighting game I am taking seriously and it has helped me immensely.
Fundamentals and not focusing too much on combos was the best advice for me, still have problems breaking throws though 😢😂
He just made a video on how to train breaking throws if you haven't watched it
I struggle with throws too. I hate when people use my strategy against me, which is grab them at every opportunity 😂. It's not as fun when they do it back. I gotta practice breaking throws.
Same here. I’ve been getting destroyed by every King player I’ve encountered lol
Don’t feel bad learning to break throws is pretty hard.
@@seizetheghost6616 yeah I watched it and like all phidx videos it helps a lot but the struggle still continues 😂
The Levi cosplay for Steve was wild 😂 5:20
when PhiDX said “NEWSFLASH”, that’s when i knew he wasn’t bullshitting about this info. 18:08
As someone who started playing Tekken with 8, if there is one thing that destroys me at the end of yellow ranks is my inability to open people up, while I'll inevitably eat one combo and then sit at 50% hp while I'm at the wall so one knowledge check either puts me below 30% or outright kills me (Hi Dargunov). Compound that with King, who can skip a huge part of the opening up part (which destroys me) and characters like Asuka, who can launch with a low and it's all downhill from there.
Hey Phi, I've been watching you since I started playing Tekken(last week) and this video is probably the one that opened my eyes the most :D. I'm not sure why, your beginner guide video was great, but something about seeing mechanics mentioned there in action really did it for me. Cheers!
Tekken: the more you learn, the more you learn you don’t know shit.
Good video, very informative! I used some sort of this style the other day, trying to trust the process! And I must say it was the only time I went undefeated during an online session! Thanks again, for the content!
It's crazy that during a guide you found one of the two Shaheen mains in the world
I remember being stuck in green and yellow ranks in TTT2, now I'm at red ranks in this game. It feels so much better from studying and practicing yet there's still so much more for me to learn
I feel bad for the scrubs. As long as you are yellow ranks, and as long as Im ranking every character to red, you guys are Doomed to be in the yellow ranks for eternity
A tip as a Lee main:
Go lab different characters and see how many moves you can punish with acid rain. You'll be very very surprised xD
Thanks! I need to definitely use acid rain more (and get more consistent with the combo lol)
@@LucaRT88 I used to struggle with it a lot and ended up using 1,2,4 as my 10f punishment for quite a while. My advice is trying to replace 1,2,4 for acid rain every time even if you don't get it right, because you may be able to do it on practice mode, but it is very common to get stressed during battle and mess it up. Keep up the excellence!! :D
You're assuming people can land Acid Rain in tempo
@@Beedji it is a crucial tool in Lee's arsenal, so it's important getting used to it
One of my biggest changes in Tekken has been playing as Steve again, I mained Negan (to very little success - not even reaching green in Tekken 7).
Now I'm taking my time and making use of dodges to get quick smacks in on the opponent and it has been getting me wins as a yellow against browns!! It feels good to beat someone at such a seemingly unachievable rank
Compared to where I was in the late stages of T7, being stuck at Warrior feels like progress, where I'd struggle to get to Initiate.
You can't lose points until warrior, so everyone is funneled there
This video brings a lot of great insight into what to think about mid match. Keep them coming! :)
'Odds are people don't understand what I'm doing.'
That's me in Tekken. I don't understand what people are doing. I'm playing my game.
It doesn't work? Too bad, I didn't learn anything anyway.
When I look at high lvl players I don't understand what makes them good other than their movement.
Like people doing 0 combo but just spamming high, mids, lows. I lost because I just can't block, I don't know my opponent's moves, there are too many of them.
I also have a bad habit of blocking low, either that or I force myself to low parry everything until it works for some reason although the real threat are mids and launchers.
I tried only blocking while standing, it doesn't work either because defense doesn't work in this game. You get hit once (that will happen anyway) that's 50% hp gone.
So I'm working on my offense and I'm sitting at 80k rating. It works better than working on defense. If your opponent doesn't get to play, no need for defense.
Bad design in my opinion but kinda understandable for T8 where T7 was defense oriented I heard.
Love this type of videos, where you explain why and what you're doing, great job, man.
I recently picked up Tekken 8 and your videos have been helpful. Thanks a lot for the content
Usually when i get beat really bad i go back and try to lab things that beat me. However with T8 you can use the Replay feature. Id argue thats the perfect tool to help take alot of players to the next level.
Awesome advice! Going into practice now to learn my plus frame moves, great vid.
I think what makes tekken such a beautiful game is that it supports so many styles and can be played well yet so differently. I'm more of an intermediate player, I dabbled in T7 a bit but I still enjoy watching content geared towards beginners. From what I've seen most players advice different things to beginners but it all seems to be solid advice, rooted in a playstyle, like phidx will advise you to let the oponent hang themselves and play pretty defensively, jdcr will emphasize the importance of movement and quick poking or TMM would advice you to keep things simple and to optimize punishment.
Awesome you made guide about yellow ranks. I am prepare for green ranks.
First Tekken game and I made it to red ranks using PhidX vids, the King video was just the icing on the cake I needed to get even better. Much thanks
New to Tekken.
18% win rate.
Been demoted to green like 50 times lmao. I feel like im never getting matched with people of similar skill to me. I played 150 matches and 0 of my opponents dropped any launcher combis. ZERO. I drop mines all the time. Which leads me to beleive im playing people who arent new to the game.
Some people focus on combos first cuz you can develop it by yourself; one or two combos is ideal though for early learning!
as a beginner this is hella confusing, what's happening here when he's talking frame trap?
So I guess he has a super fast move and opponent can't block that?
"Newsflash that's how fighting games work" doesn't make it feel less corny :(
This was very useful, im currently stuck in warrior with Hwoarang and this video explains a lot of the mistakes i'm making!
When I first saw this, I was Blue.
Now I’m almost Red. Something that helped me was having my frame traps noted down & some key-moves from popular characters.
Your advice is 100% correct. I just get so frustrated when people block up for days refusing to *ever initiate* . Like is they lose, they are going into the losers bracket at EVO.
I noticed this way more once I go to about mid Red/Low purple ranks, where people are trying to dial in as hard as possible to rank up.
Which is fine, I just prefer playing people who are willing to mix it up in close quarters with a side of occasional yolo. Cause I'm really still at the point where I'm just trying to have fun, and not sweating for rank.
If I stay in block it's more stage fright than trying to sweat for a rank lmao
@@bradfjord Haha fair enough 😅
I like to activate heat and either immediately down 2 off of the dash and go into a combo if it hits. If it’s blocked dash again into his up12 throw. Works everytime
You can sidestep the running the move , OR you can also do a sidestep right to evade the 1+2 from victor to launch him for that obvious frame trap. (If i remember correctly) . So you have 2 options, if the victor is predictable and a one trick pony. You also have power crush or a rage art as… more risky options, that might even work if the victor uses faster options and not 1+2. in case you are wondering what you can do after you block the wr2. Thanks for the video phidx.
Fax! This why I love tekken as a legacy game cuz learning and knowing the fundamentals will carry u thru the gist of all games.... This is why I can rank high without having to lab
Honestly, while the Bo3 makes the game harder to learn, it also forces you to improve if you want to climb. While playing Tekken 8, I can't believe how much I relied on being able to keep rematch and taking my time to download opponents, and now that I don't have that luxury of rematching, I gotta up my game and ability to read opponents.
It forces you to learn faster and have a stronger generic gameplan rather than adapting. You have to play strong gameplay and use reads quickly.
PLEASE MAKE MORE OF THESE THEY HELP SO MUCH
OK now how do I get out of orange ranks
Hey man! Found you from the Brian_F video. Street Fighter player playing Tekken 8 here!
Good Video :) I will use some of these tips for my John "Victor" Wick thx Buddy, Tekken 8 is Great!
Amazing content as usual!:) I Tried Steve for a few days. He super hard. Wish you play him more.
I'm higher rank than the players you made this video for, but honestly this gave me some really good ideas to use and look out for online in my own gameplay. Great video!
4:09 "what counter hit launcher is gonna kill you?"
Mine lol
-Steve Player
Tbh as a veteran player, the hardest thing to adapt to is people doing a whole bunch of damage with one button, I went from clutching close games to losing to people because someone used a rage art or a heat burst and completely washed me
Thanks so much for your videos, theyve opened my eyes to so much as a newbie to the series. Its super cool seeing all of these concepts in action, it really helps to see it come together and be able to apply these things myself as well. I hope you dont mind me asking but you mentioned getting familiar with what other characters can do and I wasnt sure if it would be better to jot down the notation or also the names of moves too?. Ig it depends on the person ofc but i figured Id ask anyway haha
i like getting used to notation ASAP, since people usually talk about it that way. But move names make for great conversation!
@@PhiDX Ah okok ic, ty for the advice 🫡
The fastest way to get higher ranks is to go to your locals, and enter brackets, grows the scene and you learn quicker
Also occasionally try to frame trap with jabs as well, you'd be surprised how many people mash after getting jabbed (on hit)
Impressive self-narration while playing!
I’m in Vanquisher already. Not new to Tekken but glad I’m near red upcoming so quickly.
Shaheens heat gives f,b2 free blue spark and makes it 13f startup which makes any of his CH or guard breaks guarantee it. Most of his moves become plus/more plus on block which sets up his slide mix up and CHs and his chip is increased by quite a lot. CH ws1, f,b2 for example deletes all grey health and is around 55 dmg and gives decent oki. CH b3 df4,3 at wall can lead to around 85 Dmg with pickup more or less depending on the walls and hazards on the stage.
TLDR Shaheens heat is about fishing for CH's to delete grey health.
Ok so I havent played cos I don't have a ps5 how do b3 and B4 work in t8? Cos I like using them both alot
Shaheen’s fb2 is i13 even without heat
Extremely important lesson great as a what next for a beginner complimenting your previous video thank you
As any other game, this shows how fundamentals and macro play alone can get you way above the average level
so what do you do when you don't have easy access to a massively plus and easy to access mid?
You pick another character, like I did, to realize you don't have to suffer more than you need to, especially when you're new at tekken and don't understand all the basics.
Talking about BO3 queues, "it keeps the queue alive because people in Tekken 7 would just deathmatch". Daaamn. I kinda didn't like BO3 queues, but when you put it like that, daaaamn. Absolutely right. I used to play maybe 2 opponents a day in T7. It was pretty cyclical looking back on in with that perspective. Wait in queue forever, then keep rematching so I don't have to wait in queue forever.
Get out of red/purple ranks next?
I’d learn the punishes for universal moves all of the characters share
Most characters wile running moves are crazy plus early ranks who know that will abuse it it’s good to try and sidestep them
Lab your movement (every time before you go online)
Make sure you have your bnbs and wall combos learned you don’t want to leave damage on the table especially with how fast this game is
Frame traps are very good but it’s good to Learn how to use them to your advantage for example after punishing a low or a hop kick you have a lot of frames to work with : also learn how being slightly minus can help you for instance being -1 to -3. You can sidestep afterwards most people early on mash to much
Hopefully this helps don’t forget to lab a little the more you play practice makes perfect
Can you make a video about TAA? Giving more options to players will provide more clarity to the game while in motion.
Hopefully some awareness about the issue will help grease the wheels in getting these settings added to the game
The real good range for fighting is one backdash away.
It makes a vacuum which agressive players want to fill in as soon as possible, with the biggest, most far-reaching move they have, which also deals the most damage because it's so big.
What it also is, is predictable, and slow on recovery.
So the gameplan should be: *backdash* , keep that distance with your opponent (dance with him, keep him on axis), *allow him to swing and miss* , and *then punish* accordingly. Rinse and repeat. Your opponent will start pushing bigger and heavier buttons, giving you more chances to launch him for a combo.
You're actually correct, but I think yellow/orange is too soon to apply this. Frame trap offense is the starting point, what you're describing is my idea of getting out of red/purple
@@PhiDX I guess then it's important to mention I'm European, we love pushing buttons and "gotcha" our opponents
This is the greatest Tekken for dummies video of all time
I don't own Tekken 8 but I tried some of this stuff on Tekken 7 and its hella affective
I've been floating in the middle of Destroyer(Orange) for some time now. But This gives some insight. Plus as a bear player I can't be whiffing my attacks like I do so recklessly.
i was stuck in warrior for like three days then one day i started climbing a little bit , u dont even notice how much better you get over time just kind of happens right before your eyes
That's one thing I don't understand, you say to play frames and use moves that are + on block.
I play Jin and almost everything is - on block, I'm doing okay ish but I feel like I'm missing something 🤔
Electric
@@PhiDX Yep, trying to use it as effective as possible, as well with breaking step.
Besides that Zenshin (b/f 3+4) Has + on block with 2 and 3+4
Both a bit risky to use tho.
Any other ones you know of I might have missed?
@@NneonNTJRunning 3. Not every character has a bunch of big plus on block moves. It's equally important to look at plus on hit moves, that's how you build momentum. Look at the moves in neutral you hit frequently and go from there. Even a simple df1 on hit opens up a million options.
Electric is really the core of everything. 2,1 has the threat of 2,1,4, and you can use that extension threat as "mental frame advantage"
Hi PhiDX, quick question here: can we say that an equivalent of this Victor strat with King would be doing FFn1+2 in the neutral and fishing for the counter hit and then for guaranteed follow-up? So, FFn1+2, wait for CH, then F21?
made it to vanquisher and i don't know how to play this game
Hey PhiDX thy for the vids dude! Maybe do one on sidesteps in the future!
Cheers
🙌🏾 I made it all the way Destroyer. Pretty soon will be at Garyu. This is definitely try hard territory though.
This was a great video and more in-depth than we might perceive. Are you able to do the same thing with lars with his best frame traps? Thank you!
Yup! WR3 and db4 give great advantage
A gimmick is something that works until the opponent figures it out.
Solid tactics also smash people who don't understand them, but they don't stop being strong when people know about them.
4:15 You mention that it's important to keep in mind that tekken 8 is more about offense than defense compared to tekken 7. How would you say tekken 8 gameplay affects Lee?(someone who usually struggles to play the offensive game)
Lee should do just enough offense to make his CHs scary again (slide)
I've been training hard to afro but I've been working on my punishers to force an opening to your turn
Completely new player here. Went into orange right after the video, haha.
That means I need "How to Get Out Of Orange Ranks" next!
Honestly right now it's pretty easy to climb the ranks. I'm currently in yellow ranks on reina (learning her but haven't had the time) by basically just using 1, 1, 2 (forgot that holding F is a stance), db2, and ff3 mix up. That's genuinely pretty much all that I'm doing besides defence.
I would just like to add I'm not a great tekken player by any means either. I'm noob as heck. Sure this game is all about trying to be the bus driver, but from what I've been seeing if you just be patient you'll win most matches. I still get rolled by old heads but it is what it is.
I usually can't use my high frame moves because they have so much startup, and most of my opponenents just use fast or evasive moves. It's so frustrating. I try to set up frametraps, but I am hardly ever given a chance.
Im new to Tekken and trying to learn Victor so this video was especially helpful, but could someone explain to me what combo he is doing at 1:13? I'm not totally familiar yet with all the terminology like "frame trapping" and such so any clarification would be much appreciated!
In the beginning of video, you say running 1+2 but in the command history it shows f2 + 2. I'm confused
Yeah it's running 2, misspoke
@@PhiDX thanks for clarifying. I'm a noob and was going nuts trying to get this to work. 😅 Is there something I'm missing? Sometimes it works if I do it, other times it does a different move, an upwards slash of sorts. Can't figure it out
I'm currently stuck in warrior (although maybe I just haven't played enough matches) so this is great for me
Would have been interested to see how you would have played Jin, what moves would you use to create frame traps?
I actually did Jin at first. EWHF and WR3 are good
I was stuck in purple ranks. And couldn't figure why, cause I knew that those who killed me were less experienced than me.
So I spent an afternoon replaying all those matches with the new replay feature.
Today I finally hit the blue ranks😂
What tips would you have against people who only want to use jabs lows and grabs repeatedly. For example they might throw 1-3 jabs, see that it isn't working, switch to a low that knocks you off your feet or a grab...I guess basically they are being over safe I guess but the way they attack doesn't really give any time to react or get any punishes in
"He's conditioned" guy is the type to like to shit where he eats
Okay, got it. I wonder what the next step looks like then? What if two good opponents face off each other who know all this? How do you create openings?
Hi PhidX, I love your videos and I am learning a lot. I am also recommending your videos to my friends who are new to fighting games and Tekken. I want to ask for a Steve tutorial. Having played Marduk in T7, I am having a hard time trying to learn Steve. Especially how to input his commands for his stance cancels for example.
I love your guide videos is there a way you could show us xiaoyu, I’ve been maining her a lot since I’ve gotten in tekken and I would love to hear your opinion on her setup
I am i ling main and im a the ruler ranks. He is not a ling main for setups you need to go to a ling main
Mrcroft is a pretty good ling channel, that and lifewillchange are top of mind for ling gameplay/ setups :)
Never even played Tekken 7 even though I wanted to. But my mentality and play style with fighting games makes me feel like Tekken 7 was the game I should have started learning. I have typically found myself comfortable learning defence first and then frustrating people into giving me the openings I need to attack. But I die a lot playing Tekken 8 with this mindset. Maybe I'll still be able to play like that as I get more familiar with the game and rank up to better ranks with more cautious players?
So how exactly do u find a characters frame traps? How plus do you need to be? Does the move after the plus move need to launch on counter hit? I'm still confused about the details of frame traps.
Think of it like this: If you are plus 5 your opponents jab is effectively 15 frames. Do that math to figure out how your good counterhit buttons match up vs their options. Btw you aren't guaranteed to win that interaction, if you do a really slow move or if they block a laggy move you'll still be punished.
You need to be plus enough so that a 10 frame jab loses or trades to whatever you do next. +4? Your 13 frame or faster move will win. +6? Your 15 frame or faster move will win. Anything up to -9 is considered safe.
The move doesn't have to be anything. It's just that a safe counter hit launcher is a pretty big reward, especially if you know it can't be interrupted. Depends on the character's strengths.
I never got out of blue rank is tekken 7, so I’m glad to finally be in yellow ranks comfortably.
So play frames, watch your opponent with their tendencies, and simplify your gameplay don’t get too technical. Basically play at their level until they play at your level 😜
From mainmanswe, don’t show your whole hand. Keep doing what works. Watch if they adapt or if you should just continue. Capitalize on those mistakes. Learn with defense and patience when its your turn and what is punishable by negative frames
Not to piss on your parade or anything but you can't get demoted in T8 before Yellow rank so now yellow rank is basically the "lowest rank"