Fighting Games are some of the top esports but they can also be some of the hardest to get into. Even games built to be casual-friendly party fighter can be impossible to crack at a serious level, requiring you to learn an entire fighting game glossary before you can even understand the high-level player. How to get better at fighting games can seem like an impossible task!

Just like any other game though, there are some ways to improve.

How to Get Better at Fighting Games

There isn’t one weird trick to get better at fighting games. It’s more about putting the time in for practice. Rome wasn’t built in a day. With new instalments like Street Fighter 6 from some of the biggest fighting games though, it’s the perfect time to start the grind. If you want to make sure you’re training in the right way, this is what you need to know.

1. Start with a Main

Source: Capcom

Most fighting games have huge rosters. If you’re looking at something like Brawlhalla or Smash Bros Ultimate, characters can get to an insane level. It’s still important to pick the right main.

Try some characters out over in the training room. Pick one whose kit you like, and you can start from there. Experiment with different playstyles though. You might like a zoner better than rushdown, even if you prefer a different character’s look!

2. Learn your Character

Source: Capcom

Once you’ve got a main, the next step for how to get better at figuring games is to actually learn them! That’s not just learning their moves, it’s everything. Get a feel for all of their moves, where they connect, how long they leave you exposed to opponents, the distance travelled. Once you know all of this, you’ll understand their moveset in much more detail than just knowing the list.

Then it’s time to get more advanced. Look at combos for your main. spend time in the training room mastering them. These take a long time, you’ll need to essentially master the inputs as a matter of muscle memory. This is a key method for how to get better at fighting games.

Beyond that, it’s time to start thinking about spacing, timing, and punishment. Essentially, you’ll need to break the moves down into what’s useful in different situations. There will be plays that work in Neutral (where no character is attacking), on the offensive, defensive, and zoning moves to keep control of spacing and get your moves lined up.

3. Learn Matchups and Other Characters

Source: Nintendo

While still focusing on one specific fighting game, it’s time to look beyond your main. When playing you’ll need to know your character’s matchups, this is essentially how they perform against others. Some characters have kit that counters others far too easily. It’s why even the best players for a character switch it up against some opponents, even in the biggest fighting game esports tournaments.

It’s a lot to learn everyone’s move in detail at first. As you learn how to improve in fighting games though, you should be piecing together how every character matches up. Who your main is strong against, their weaknesses, and how you have to adapt your tactics to them. This is different depending on your game of choice, but every title has good and bad matchups. How to get better at fighting games is understanding the whole game, and how it affects your main.

4. The Neutral

Source: Arc System Works

One of the biggest things to understand for how to improve at fighting games is that each match has different phases. One of the most important, and something that separates beginners from decent players, is the neutral. This is the area where no one is comboing, rushing down an opponent, defending, or anything else. It’s when there’s space between you, and you’re both poking with projectiles, movement and normal to start off an attack.

This is an area where it’s good to look at events, like EVO. Players in these tournaments make masterful use of the neutral. Here is where the game is really decided, at least outside of insane comebacks.

You’ll need to learn your character’s moves for the neutral. Each character will have sets of moves which can be used to instigate. For some, it’ll be a pattern of projectiles that controls the space your opponents can be in. Others will have sequences where you can use a normal attack into a larger combo, going straight from the neutral to heavy attacks.

5. Watch Great Players

Source: EVO 2022

Another key tip for mastering how to get better at fighting games is to aim high. Look at how the game is being played on a higher level than you are. Try to analyse what is happening differently. That’s not learning combos and other mechanics writ from esports playback. It’s trying to think about what they’re doing differently and how they’re understanding their situation on a different level.

If pro-level players seem to be reacting and executing with a different awareness, that’s the upper limit you have to aim for. The difference in mechanics and reaction times can be easy to see. The difference in how a pro player can process what’s happening, and decide on the best recourse though, that’s something that takes a long time to learn.

6. Practise

Source: Nintendo

This is the biggest step, fighting gameplay will improve with time. If you’re practising the right way, you’re going to see improvements. As an ideal, unless you have your character’s neutral combos, and everything else down, you should still spend plenty of time in the training room. Lab out something you need to improve like better neutral or a hard-hitting combo. Once you think you have it down, move into live matches and try to put it into practice.

Breaking down how to get better at fighting games to mastering one aspect at a time, it can help to show how much process you’re making.

7. CPUs Aren’t Great Practise

Source: Capcom

The CPU in fighting games isn’t good. Half the time it doesn’t even play fair. Practising exclusively against CPU won’t train you in how to be a better fighting game player, just in how to better beat that CPU. Most have specific movements and reactions they’ll pull out in certain situations. You’ll need to go further than CPUs to really get better.

8. Don’t be scared of Online or Offline play

Source: Blue Mammoth Games

Online is a great place to test out your skill against your fellow players. Whether it’s the Street Fighter 6 ranking system or trying to make it into Elite Smash. It isn’t the same as the core game a lot of the time though. Some games have notoriously bad online which will give you bad habits. Don’t use it exclusively for practice, but at the same time it’s by far the easiest way to quickly match against a similarly ranked player, so take advantage of that.

Offline is definitely the best practice you can get. Whenever you can play with peers on a similar skill level, take the opportunity.

9. Watch and Learn from your mistakes

Even if you’re consistently improving, one of the biggest ways to step it up is to look at your replays. Rewatch losing games and look at what you did wrong. A lot of the time, you might be missing something key in the pressure of a live game. Watch for your mistakes and try your best to train yourself out of that bad habit This is the best thing you can do for how to get better at fighting games.

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