Agreed. I think that is the fundamental piece to immediately elevate one’a game. If you know what your opponent wants at any given moment, you will beat them.
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What about playing for fun? Winning and learning, while important and worthwhile, aren’t prioritized over having fun. While these things are not necessarily mutually exclusive, sometimes they are and eventually the others struggle to happen without the one.
IMO, there’s not really a point in playing a game if you don’t think it’s fun. Who cares if you get better at a game you don’t even like playing?
I think this list is more for those people who enjoy elevating their game and want to get better because it’s that process of improvement that they find fun. If “having fun” in a videogame and “improving” are mutually exclusive (which I think is probably extremely rare to be honest), then I’d personally advise going for the fun. What’s the point of gaming if you don’t enjoy it?
If you just want to mess around with friends and have a good time playing casually, then do that - getting better at the game doesn’t have to be a goal for everyone.
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It’s strange because A LOT of ppl equate trying too get good as not being fun, when i believe it’s five opposite.
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Considering that losing in order to learn while playing against better players is a big part of it, I can easily see why people view it that way. We now live in a world where everyone wants results quickly…
Agreed. I’ve had a lot more fun with the game in S3 than before (and believe me, I thoroughly enjoyed Seasons 1 & 2), just because this season I feel like I’ve really begun understanding the game at a more comprehensive level. It’s been fun pushing myself and trying to work out answers to various strategies, and each time I figure something out I like the game even more because I feel like it’s rewarding me for exploring it. 
The grind for improvement isn’t always buckets of fun (practice rarely is), but it’s nice to see the results of that practice pay off in the way I think about and understand the game. Win, lose, or draw, the constant push to be better is enjoyable.
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But it’s not the game itself that does that necessarily - this can be true for virtually any endeavor you undertake, providded the drive to improve and succeed is there. Interest is the key factor.
Title of the thread is tendencies that keep us from getting better. Surely the list above is not exhaustive. For some, playing for fun is a barrier that keeps them from getting better. These things are not mutually exclusive. The point being that sometimes when these things don’t align while playing, practicing, etc it becomes the barrier.
This is what aggravates me about this community sometimes. People and their condescension or putting words in my mouth. Combine it with the regular ridicule or rudeness, and the community has been a piece of work lately.
Uh…sorry? Not sure what in the above was condescending, but that certainly wasn’t my intent. 
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I posted on topic, and you quoted one line from my post and proceeded to counter argue the rest of it. At the least, you could quote the entirety of what you are referencing in your own post. Then you certainly felt the need to inform me of who the list was for, as if I didn’t understand it AND excluding a portion of the player base from the topic of discussion. You made frequent use of the pronoun “you” before and after making the aforementioned assertion, your counter argument, and your closing statement, subtly aligning me with the same group you’ve excluded in your previous statement.
Alright then 
I generally pull out portions of posts for quotes that I think are interesting/pertinent, and then address that point particularly. I rarely if ever quote entire posts - I find it cluttering and largely unnecessary. I was also using “you” here generically, not specifically directing it at you. Sometimes I’ll add the parenthetical “generic you”, and sometimes I won’t. This time I didn’t.
But whatever. I don’t care near enough to try and argue this with you. I wasn’t trying to be either condescending or particularly combative, but if you want to feel condescended to or besieged by counterpoints I won’t get in your way.
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Shocker…
Cool supervillain! 
Back on topic:
I think I found out that I have #14 as well.
Fighting Storm’s Hisako a lot, there are plenty of situations where I’m forced to make a hard read/quick decision on how I want to keep the momentum going in my favor. I feel like sometimes I know he will do something, which makes me get a good read, but I’m not understanding WHY I’m doing it, but more of a “This has worked before, it must work again” mindset. Which, if he starts to adapt, I start to fall apart.
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Q: What are some great ways to open up a very defensive (low-blocking) opponent while using Aganos?
I ask, because this is often 1 of my hardest challenges as the golem and I’m curious to see if you guys might think of something that I haven’t.
Against a low block, only an overhead works, and that either means getting in close, making me vulnerable to anti-airs (if jumping or rolling in) and throws; or staying back to get a peacemaker in order to use the long-range overhead, which carries its own risks.
I think I’d go with instant overheads? They’re a live threat from pretty far away against Aganos, and if you’ve got a wall behind the opponent they can lead to significant damage as well.
I’m not sure I understand. Instant overheads? I thought virtually all of them were reactable as a means of balance.
Also just throw them. Be patient and slowly walk forward while blocking every now and the to get close. Getting close doesn’t mean you have to be anti-aired.
I do this, but it carries its own risks - while many characters can’t throw Aganos within his own throw range, he’s still vulnerable to those grounded heavy normals.
I know Aganos’s close-MP is a very fast overhead. It’s unsafe on block but can be cancelled into shadow moves.
No. Gargos’ jump+MP and Glacius’ jump+LK (I think that’s downward lance?) are unreactable, and both Aganos’ jump+HP and jump+HK are either unreactable or on the knife’s edge of reactability. Once Aganos gets within his throw range, you’re legit taking a blind guess on trying to tech the throw or respond to a jump. If you guess wrong and he jump+HP/HK’s you, you’re getting dunked. The jump+HK in particular is deadly, because it sets up wallsplat manual into wall crash.