Is it really possible to "master" a character?

[blindhobo]

Is it? And what is your definition of "master"?

I just see a lot of people saying, "I mastered _______ so now I'm moving on to _____."

And while I know it's probably not true, it just makes me wonder.

Oh, and another question. How did anyone become "the best"?

Everyone always asks, "How do you become better?" and they get replies of "Go to tournaments and beat people better than you." But how did those guys get good in the first place? Natural talent? And how did people know that they were good? Was it just tech skill?

 

[Zodiak-Lucien]

I believe they mean master to where you know all the essential tech skill of the given character and is crystiallized to the point where you dont think about it. Also the knowledge of the characters best and worst match ups are near memorized. So the better your mindgames and experiance get better the character becomes

 

[pdk]

if there was no way to master a character then there'd be no place for competitive virtua fighter, now would there?

anyway, if you really want to get better you have to learn a lot of things: your character's abilities, how to apply them, how your character fares in different matchups (just looking at the matchup chart isn't enough), how to handle specific stages (you'll have to do this even if you only play FD since not even that is a perfectly balanced stage), and most importantly how to play tricks on opponents effectively while looking out for theirs (in short, mindgames). perhaps the best way to do these is to read up and start playing regularly with people better than you

 

[Mic_128]

Everyone always asks, "How do you become better?" and they get replies of "Go to tournaments and beat people better than you." But how did those guys get good in the first place? Natural talent? And how did people know that they were good? Was it just tech skill?

Playing people over and over and over.

Duh.

 

[greenblob]

MookieRah had a good post on getting better somewhere.
Basically, it said you should't practice tech skill hours on end in training mode and instead you should practice them in a game-setting in intervals of a few minutes to build up muscle memory. There was also a mindgame part on developing the right mindset which involves playing a wide variety of people near your level of play, which is why going to tournaments is recommended--since you'll meet lots of new people and chances are you'll meet someone who's at your level. He also mentioned analyzing videos of yourself and pros--see what the pros do in certain situations and try to figure out why (or whether it was a mistake) and analyze your own videos to see what you're doing right or doing wrong.

 

[harriettheguy]

Everything Greenblob said. Plus, know the limitations of your own character...maybe even play the very character that counters your main so you get the full scope of what you may face in the future. Tech skill is important but overrated. if u keep playing with yourself for hours on end youll go blind.

 

[Gelton]

Just like anything else that takes skill, there is always somebody better. I dunno why someone actually good would claim to have mastered a char. Seems kind of a pointless goal IMO unless you dont want to do anything but make money. I find the social interaction/learning experience is better than anything. I see new stuff from pros all the time, sharpening their skills. I don't really see the best staying the same. EVERYONE has to practice to stay one up on the competition nowadays.

 

[Eaode]

you cant truly master a character. It all depends on who your competition is imo. You could say Ken mastered marth, but if everyone figured out a way to beat his (for lack of a better word) strategy, then he'd still have to learn some other (for lack of a better word) tricks.

 

[pikachun00b7]

It's Impossible to master a charector

 

[golden_leeroy]

I don't think you can master a character; humans aren't perfect. You'll still make mistakes from time to time.

 

[yorpy]

you can't really master a char, but some people get really good with their char.

 

[ElfenLiedPeach]

I'd have to agree with the general idea above. You can't really master anybody, just as the human mind is endless, so are the possibilities of variations of playstyles, focuses on a character's strengths, and new ways to use certain moves and whatnot. As the metagame evolves, so does the character.

I would say, to a certain degree, you can know practically all there is to know to date on a character. I'd guess someone like M2K, who has studied characters down to the frame, would indeed be as close to humanly possible to mastering a character in the current metagame.

I'd just say, as a community, it seems the characters make progressions over time in abilities that are commonplace. When a certain strategy is exploited enough, someone is bound to eventually find a way to negate it, and then that strategy begins to become commonplace until almost everyone that plays that character seriously has at least a sense of how to work it. Soon after the defense is commonplace, new ways around the defense are attempted to be developed. At least, this is how I see how the gameplay might have developed over time. I hadn't been too serious of a player until a few months ago when I found this site, so i guess *most* of the stuff was discovered before I had even got here. But come on, I'm sure there was probably a time without SHL common in Falcos, waveshines and infinites for Foxes, bad DI was more common, etc...

As I've seen many people who describe how they approach non-tournament matches, and I do this myself, the matches are used for "playing to learn". Experimenting with the character, you often tumbles stumble upon a new use for a move in your playstyle, or maybe develop a mindgame to disrupt the flow of battle. As long as there are people playing to learn, I think characters will continue to develop further and further. At the moment, I think that there really isn't an attainable level of "mastering" a character.

Just my thoughts....

 

[XsolidXsnakeX]

the only way to master or become the best is to beat evrey body

 

[beebee]

I don't think you can master something. There is always room to improve your fighting skill.

 

[XZalla]

The only way to master a character is to know how far your character can go. Playing your character as if you were using AR.

To master a character, you need to know the ins and outs to everything your character does.

To master a character you need to know its well being;

-Weight
-Height
-Speed (As well as attacks too)
and
- Hit box

To master a character, you need to be one with the character.

To master a character, you need to always play with the character.

 

[ToyzSoldier]

You can definately master a character to a tech skill extent, granted to allow a few mistakes or so, we are only human after all. Although, tactics and mindgames, which make up the majority of pwning is a different story. I suppose if someone was physic and could predict absolutely everything the opponent was going to do, thats one way of being a complete master. Or something similar to Perfect Control is another form mastering I suppose. Both of which are humanly immpossible, but robotically...

 

[TheGSF]

dawg i mastad all those gangsta nintendo dawgs and im maaaad good at da game.

Ballin.

 

[marthsword]

To master a character, you need to always play with the character.

Not true. I'll take Ken as an example. He's mastered fox and marth, plays a very good ganon, an ok roy, and a surprisingly great g&w.

dawg i mastad all those gangsta nintendo dawgs and im maaaad good at da game.

Ballin.

No, you didn't master all of them. You've mastered none of them? Ballin'? What?

 

[TheGSF]

dawg ya don no tha fo sure dawg i play game an watch them videos and im all like BAAALLLLIIIIINNNNNN and i tear peeps new *******s dood dont be hatin brah dont be hatin
ROFLCOPTER DROPPIN LAWL BOMBS

 

[Eggm]

Its probably not possible to MASTER a character, but.. look at Taj's m2, hes obvoiusly the m2 king.. beating kings jiggly at NCT2 chu's IC"s with m2 at ken's biweekly.. he beats forwards falco sometimes, and this is the BOTTOM OF BOTTOM TEIR, I guess it just goes to show how important mind games are rather than who your playing matchups/stages Just play smarter and you win i guess..

 

[_Phloat_]

True, but if someone was the "master" meaning, the best possible, he would be fox, use the invincible frame on the shine on you to block your attack and then infinate you to an u smash...

If you had a character that could avoid the infinate, you still could not beat him, he would be invincible due to the quick cancelling...

That is my 2 cents