That’s if you’re on the receiving end ^^’
On the offensive, you need to learn openers and the manuals they allow, you need to wrap your head around the idea that mid combo special moves become different specials moves, and you need to learn that some of those new combo-specific-special-moves are linkers, that lead to an extension of the combo, and some are enders, which are what allow you to get actual big damage.
You need to learn that not only do specials become different while done mid combo, they also get 3 different strengths, and they aren’t done by pressing light, medium or heavy anymore, a heavy version is done by holding down the button, and now the actual heavy button version interrupts and ends the combo.
Then you also need to learn that you cannot simply memorize a combo, put it into your muscle memory, and go on auto pilot as soon as you get a confirm. You need to get at ease enough with all those alien concepts described above, that you can constantly switch your combos around, mix up your combo pattern and trick your opponent.
Then you need to learn how to use each different ender, realize and recognize that they all have different effects (many character specific, even), and learn how to identify which ender is the best in which situation accordingly to the flow of the round.
Then you need to learn to recognize your opponent’s break patterns, learn when and how to extend combos, realize that mid combo you need to confirm a lock out unlike other games in which you simply need to confirm a hit and then execute a combo, and then put all of that into your muscle memory so that you can actually take advantage of the combo system.
And then there’s the counter breaker mind game, and the whole timing associated with it.
As the player being attacked, you need to learn to identify attack strengths and break combos, know when and how to break, when and how to let your opponent attack and resist the urge to break, recognize when your opponent goes for resets mid combo and react accordingly, and confirm when a counter breaker is attempted so as to not fall into it, and to proper punish its recovery.
The combo system is a whole different beast than anything any other fighting game has done. And then there’s the neutral which weighs in as heavily as it does in other fighting games.
(again, sorry for the off topic… =S)