After I learn how to confidently do combos with a character, there’s no real need to continue practicing them (expect for manuals and possible resets). In the lab, I usually work on pressure strings that you can use or follow ups for different scenarios. Stuff like
Stuff like these really help in the long run and I spend most of my time working on these in the lab
Example, Heavy Tremor > Medium Vortex > (delay) > Medium Heavy Punch Target juggle > Light Vortex > Light Tremor (Recap) > Battery ender. That’s a string. Basically, Dojo stuff for Jago. If you drop it, you reset your count to 0. You try and do it 10 times in a row. If you get to 8 and you drop, back to 0.
TJ has some nasty flipout stuff, I’d also work on some of that too. It’s good breaker bait, throw bait, crossup, high or low your opponent has to guess most of the time. I’d only be wary of an opponent that has a DP but you can bait that too lol.
You just said that I need to work on aall the tech that TJ has. I get that in lab. But in real life people block and press buttons too. So crazy set ups dont work well for TJ. Killaclown who is the best TJ for me(and he doesnt lab at all) doesnt do crazy stuff. He just do the right stuff. But yeah. I dont even know to use a simple flipout right.
Killaclown understands footsies and the general games mechanics. Knowing how to space yourself goes a long way in any fighting game. Killa also has a great knowledge of each character. While I do find him to be demeaning and incredibly rude (at least every time I’ve played him), there’s no denying his skill.
You don’t have to do tons of “fancy” stuff in KI to be good, but you do have to have a good understanding of what your character can do.
I main Sadira and I hardly ever do the fancy juggles that Kalypso does, and yet I still win most of my fights. It’s always cool to do really fancy combos and such, but it isn’t a requirement. In fact, in my humble opinion, you should be focusing on the fundamentals of KI and the fundamentals of your character first, before even starting to get into the more elaborate mechanics of your character.
I also recommend to try other characters as well. This will also help you understand how to fight them. You might even change your main.
Most of us here have changed mains and or main several. I started KI as a Sabrewulf main, but Sadira stole my heart. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Since you don’t have access to all the characters, try the free character of the week (which I think is Gargos rn) so that you can have experiences with different characters
Understanding how TJ works, then applying tech that fits you is what I meant. It never hurts to add more mixups to your game either. But when we did TJ Ditto’s I wasn’t doing much of any fancy stuff. Just flipout crossups and I kept catching you because it’s that good. TJ has an answer to all Flipout responses your opponent can do, so if you get a good rhythm going, and don’t become predictable, your opponent won’t be able to stop you. If they throw, you tremor, if they DP you block, if they block you throw or shoot toss, and if they are breaking it, you can counter break it. It’s a very good tool. But as far as Tech goes, TJ doesn’t really have like “tech”. It’s just, rolling in on zoning, fake out power lines to cover distance, getting a near full screen anti air from heavy tremor, those things are about the craziest things TJ can do aside from maybe instinct juggles. But really, if you’re opponent can’t break you reliably all you need is auto barrage. You win in 4-5 combo’s. Basically, all you need is like 4 or 5 steps.