#82. 100 Hours of Guilty Gear: Strive

FGC Philosophy

#82. My first 100 hours of Guilty Gear: Strive

I recently hit 100 hours of playing Guilty Gear: Strive and as such, I thought it was a great time to reflect on my experience. I give my review but I also share a general idea of what I’ve learned from playing Strive.
My thoughts on Strive

Now that the "new car sheen" is wearing off, I can honestly say I still enjoy the game. I love the gameplay and how I'm able to express myself within this game. I have a character I truly enjoy and that, I believe is a huge part of the allure of this game. There are several other characters I think I would enjoy playing, but Nagoriyuki is by far one of the coolest fighting game characters ever to me. As such, I had to prioritize learning him.
How good am I at Guilty Gear: Strive?

That's a hard question to answer. I've managed to get to the celestial floor during the first "season" and I don't think I'll have much trouble getting back up there. I've been busier lately so I haven't had to get much time to play lately as when it first came out. Even still I'm able to hold my own around the KZOO FGC and surrounding areas. I still have much to learn but I feel I have a good mindset when approaching this game.

What's been my process for learning the game?

So I'm still developing how to articulate this one. On one side it's very simple, but it's only simple assuming you put in the work to develop certain skills. There are so many areas to talk about, but I did my best to focus on a small group.

• Execution
• Hit-confirms
• Tool usage
• Mix-up
• Situational awareness

These areas I was sure to focus on and repeat until I mastered them. Please note, when I say "mastered" I mean you are able to perform this task/skill/technique/etc. with minimal mental effort, however long that takes. When I do I pick something new to work on, rinse repeat. I've since added more to that list, but everything else tends to fit one of these categories in some form, just a more advanced version of it.

Getting into the "Zone"

Something I made sure to do, was not allow myself to be too distracted when playing this game. When I'm in a match with friends, I often deafen myself to make sure that I'm locked into what I'm doing. A big part of playing consistently is having consistent focus, which means I need to train myself to stay disciplined in my vigilance. From my previous experience, my vigilance is something I'm always trying to improve. That means I had to sit there and internally or externally say to "Pay attention", "Look for the burst", or other things that will help me get the read on my opponent, and/or get the upper hand. Doing so allows me to catch on to what my opponent is doing faster and faster.
I still get bodied by better players, but when I do I am usually enjoying the experience because I know that I can learn from these games. I also record my matches regularly, so that allows me to quickly review a match while it's fresh, or wait till I'm less salty!

Re-Learning to enjoy the learning process Letting go of expectations

Having a fighting game I truly enjoy has allowed me to embrace the process of learning a fighting game from zero. It's a humbling experience, but also a very novel one. There's so much new stuff to take attention to. I decided early on, I wouldn't play this game to compete, I would play it to improve and master it. I enjoy the mastery, the process of improving. In the early days of competing, somewhere along the line, I convinced myself it was about winning. Since that time I've been improving my outlook on fighting games to something more productive.
That desire to improve my mindset improved as my time was reduced with the birth of my son Link. Now that my time is more limited I need to use my time more wisely. As such I think this game gave me the chance to do just that. I do intend to compete seriously in this game, but when I do I want to go in with the ability to win. I'm not quite there yet, and I have access to strong players from all over because of the great net code. Plus I stream and commentate on the local weekly Strive tournaments. Before/after the tournaments I'm challenging people to sets and taking in what I can.

All this to say, expect me to talk about Strive a lot because I'm truly enjoying it. I of course still play SFV but for now, I'm taking a break from it in terms of serious competing. I of course will still be coaching it per usual so make sure to reach out to me if you are interested in my competitive or life coaching packages!

Thank you for the support,

Philocypher