My Game-Plan

Introduction

For the longest time, I've been playing without so much as a plan (its indicative of my life outside the game) and while it has gotten me rather far, it is hindering my progression to the next level of skill. Following some sage advice that I've been given, I'm going to create my game plan as Sean so that I can put these thoughts to a canvas. 

There are 4 Macro and 4 Micro goals of a match for Sean:

Macro:

• Get super
• Get them to the corner
• Land super to win 
• Match-up Experience

Micro:

• Build meter offensively or defensively
• Walk them down, KND corpse push or back throw towards the corner
• Whiff punish, Reversal, Confirm, or Parry + Punish into Super
• Knowledge of opponent's character and their options/ranges

Build Super

The number one key to the plan is getting super first. If I have super, then my chances of winning the round (possibly the match) sky-rocket. 

There are 2 approaches to this I can take depending on my opponent's aggression or defense:

• Offensive Meter-Build
• Make the opponent block normals like Cl. HK, J. HK's, max range Cr. HKs or Wheel Kicks
• Frame kill Cr. MP's or Cl. HK's after knockdowns up close
• Taunt 

• Defensive Meter-Build
• Runaway Cr. MP's or J. HK's 
• Full Screen Taunt
• Whiff punish Cr. HK + Frame kill Cr. MP's 

I want to homogenize my style of play without super vs with super so that it becomes harder for my opponent to spot differences in what I want and how I set it up. 

Its difficult though because Sean can only apply pressure the opponent has to respect when he has meter which means forcing them into certain decisions in order to land it is important. 

Cornering the Opponent

Defensive Tendencies

I am a patient person by nature so its only natural that my default style is to play a more defensive-respondent role in neutral with the intent to corner the opponent when presented with an opening.

My preference of defense goes:

• Block first -> Avoid situation -> Counter situation -> Parry

Me blocking comes first before the other 3 choices always. If its a situation I know is negative, I will block first then block punish.

If its a open-ended situation on block that isn't in my favor (it never is), I will try to actively avoid it. 

Depending on which open-ended situation it is, I may try my luck and guess if I'm near K.O or I have enough resources to make the gamble. 

Parry is a last resort (though its very hard not to make it a first resort) and should only be used in educated decision making. 

Naturally I want to block and walk back more than anything else. I want to mix this with walking back into immediate block in order to counter the opponents attempt to catch me walking or throw me . 

Offensive Measures 

When fighting someone of similar ilk, I want to integrate a little aggression to force their hand while maintaining safety (easier said then done since I'm not aggressive by nature) so that I can pull bad decisions out of them. If the opponent manages to shut me out of my offense, I'll reinforce my defense until I get a better understanding of the opponent.  

My favorite position of the screen to be at is max dash range. For Sean, his far HP is strong here and won't lose to much of anything. At this range, I set up a choice for the opponent to make whether I'm going to do: 

• Dash Cr. LK or Cr. MK
• Dash Throw 
• Dash Cl. HK 
• Dash into defensive options

                                             (*When I have meter*)

These choices make guessing what Sean will do difficult to deal with especially if the opponent has a tendency to crouch tech against throw pressure. It also forces the opponent to make a decision. 

Primarily, I'm looking for any big whiffs, abrupt dashes, projectiles, or jumps to take advantage of. 

• I prefer to dash under jumps when I'm in range to or try to jump back parry to neutralize the situation and keep me safe. I get to directly AA with Cl. MP or Cl. HP or passively AA with just exchanging screen positions. When I'm not able to dash under them from further out, I try to walk back.

• Since i'm sitting at my preferred range, the opponents dash range is near the same distance as mine which gives me ample opportunity to stop dashes and respond to jumps. Cr. LP x Cr. LK is a good dash prevention tool along with Far MP (because it becomes target combo when they get close from their dash) just for a few examples. 

    

Secondarily, I'm looking for a back throw which will grant me the corner immediately.

Third, I want to punish their attempt to meter build so I will take the space they give me while also being aware of the distance they'll respond to a threat so that I can deal with their response. 

What does getting the corner do for Sean?

The corner is where range restrictions cease (to an extent) which makes it a key part of the game-plan. The opponent can no longer retreat and is forced to make defensive decisions in order to escape the corner. With this in mind, 

I want to be in 2 spaces specifically:

I want to occupy the space right outside of Cr. MK range after significant pushback (block-string/frame-trap) so that I can intercept any attempts to escape the corner or whiff punish any normals the opponent uses to keep me away. This while occasionally stepping in to buffer a down/high parry to catch a particular normal I'm looking for. 

OR 

I want to occupy the close inter-medial range to make the opponent deal with max range Cl. HK/Cr. MK/ In-step Kara Throw outside of their throw range. This distance allows me freedom to press forward or back off dependent on the game state. I will occasionally set-up parries to catch attempts to stop the in-step -> options in shimmy situations outside of throw range. 

Land Super to Win

Third comes confirming super to win. Self explanatory, but confirms are of upmost importance to Sean's game plan as he doesn't get many openings from characters stronger than him so he needs to make the most of it when he can. It is one of his few strengths as a character and being consistent with his confirms will bring out his true potential.  

Let's discuss a few of his most important confirms

The main confirm I'm looking for is Cl. HK above all the other ones he has. Its the most damage he can get for a confirm and the button itself is borderline busted. Its at its best when it blows up an opponent for down-parrying or when it hits the opponent from outside of their throw range.  

Cr. MK: This is probably his hardest confirm since its not a very lenient one like Chun but with this, Sean is in the small group of characters in the game with a confirm-able Cr. MK. 

At range, he can only confirm SA1 or SA3. 

However, Up close he's able to confirm MP/EX Dragon Smash for a good amount of damage and a knock-down. 

One of the main strong points about Cr. MK and Cl. HK are that they both are single-hit confirms which means Sean doesn't have to worry about red-parries in confirm situations unlike Ken. This is why its important to drill his confirms constantly. 

Cr. LK x 2: 2 hit low confirm that can only go into super at close range. Can be delay and frame trapped into making it difficult to red parry. 

Match-up Experience

Last comes Match-up experience. Sean only has 1 advantaged matchup and 1 truly even matchup out of many of disadvantaged ones. Having a solid base of understanding MU's will help immensely especially when it comes to fighting the top tiers.