Asuka smiling at demotion match? Let me guide you how to feel the same. :D

When I'm in green, I never felt ranked matches as stressful. Sure the tense was there, and that's what I like it. You could lose your rank when your opponents beat you badly. But the main reason stress is there is simple: you care too much about your rank.

Back in the day, I faced opponents who quit after losing or winning and it's so frustrating. I didn't spent time searching for only one match. I want rematches. But then, players tend to care about gaining points, and only gaining points. This is the whole reason for me to see why ranked matches are stressful. I've some friends who don't play ranked matches or rarely play it coz it stressed them so bad.

Spamming and flowcharting can make you rank up so fast. Depending on character you are using. Some characters can "carry" you, and the reason is that many players don't know the match up for your characters.

Spamming is using same moves over and over again to an opponent who doesn't know how to defend against it. But there are some players who are spamming even it won't work, and make them lose. Example is using Asuka's leg cutter (db4,4,4) over and over to an opponent who doesnt know how to low parry or block and/or punish lows.

Flowcharting is a set of move patterns that may or may not work against your opponent. So for example, I tend to do can-can on waking up opponents as part of my flowcharts, and it works wonder in lower ranks.

To share my personal story, I ranked up in four months from Marauder to Eternal Ruler rank (green to purple). While it's not so fast compare to other players who went to TGP in one day, it's fast enough that I forgot to learn fundamentals which I will talk about later.

And the danger of ranking up so fast are these:

1. It gives them false sense that they are good player
2. They tend to quit when losing or being demoted badly
3. They might continue to play but not happy, and focus on winning only to the point that they ragequit or duck opponents
4. They tend to forget fundamentals, bcoz why they will learn it if they are winning anyway?

Going back to my personal experience, I win so many matches that I thought I was good enough, then it appeared that Im still a noob who dont know how to sidestep effectively, dont know basic frame data, cant break throws, cant chicken, and dont know how to move well generally.

There's a non-stop debate if ranks really do matter or not, so I'll share you my experience about it.

Yes and no.

Yes, coz being in particular rank color "indicates" how skilled you are, well theoretically at least. When I got out of yellow after very long struggle, my friend told me that I did well. And having someone with solid experience tell you about it, will make you more motivated to play ranked matches even more. So for the purpose of improving, I guess making your rank as guide to your progress actually can help you to measure yourself objectively.

No, coz it doesn't really matter on what rank you go. Many players, again, focus too much on ranks that it doesnt help them improve. They duck matches coz they are afraid to lose rank. So therefore, they are missing match up opportunities here and there. They are afraid to face for example, Asuka coz she parries. So they will continue to duck her matches. While this is fine as long as you are enjoying the game, this will not help you improve in the game. Another thing worth mentioning about ranks is, it's useless if your skills dont match your rank. For example, like I mentioned before, I reached purple with a little fundamentals knowledge, coz I spam thru ranking up. So it's embarassing when someone in teal rank with solid basics beat me badly in player matches.

Next question is, do ranked matches still worth it? My answer is yes. Ranked matches are actually meant to match you up with players with same level of your skill. While quick matches and players matches actually help, ranked matches are still the real deal, especially if you only starting to improve regardless of what rank you are. Some players say ranked matches are toxic. Yes it is. Too many spammy and flowcharty players. But then, it's part of learning and you should not duck it.

Back in green ranks, I find most players dont rematch. And it's bcoz, aside from connectivity issues or hating the characters, they care too much about rank. If you are into rematches, then good coz it will help you improve fast and learn the match up quickly.

But till when you should rematch?

I used to rematch till my opponent quits. That's a good habit I had back in the day. But as I ranked up, I find myself ducking matches. I lose one and quit, win one and quit. The result is, that opponent wont rematch me as well. And that breaks the relationship between players. I also used to say that if I lose 3 consecutive matches, I'll quit.

There is no hard and fast rule when you will stop rematch. My advice is, as long as you are enjoying it, continue as you wish. If you are beginning to get frustrated, then why rematch? After all, running away once in a while isnt bad at all. Take a step back if your tactics dont work against an opponent and lab it to learn how to properly defend against the character he is using.

Also, while ranked match's purpose is to match you up with opponents with same skill level as yours, rematching someone who are very low or very high from your rank actually helps too. Keep rematching a low rank opponent gives you opportunity to test some new tactics you have in mind and rematching a high rank opponent gives you opportunity to fight a very strong player even when you are not in his rank yet. It's a win-win. Trust me.

1. Don't care about winning and ranks

I know, I stated previously that rank matters at some aspects. But what Im trying to say is, whenever you are facing opponent online especially about ranks, dont care about it. You got demoted? So what? Im an Eternal Ruler (purple) who got demoted badly to Seiryu (red). Back in the day, I could have quit. This is the second attempt for me to quit, but Im glad I didnt. Or else I could have missed the real fun and enlightenment I learned when this happened to me. Many players are afraid to get demoted. But yeah, if you dont embrace it, you wont grow and improve.

The first time I am deciding to quit (when I got demoted from Byakko (red) to Destroyer (orange), I message two friends about it. One told me to take a rest. The other told me that it's nothing, coz he was demoted from red all going down to yellow before. And he said an important thing which is in next step:

2. If you got demoted badly, nothing can break you.

It's true. I was so motivated again when I hear it from him. It's a golden wisdom I learned in this game and haven't I met him if I didnt not play this game. Makes sense right? It now applies to my real life aspects that, whatever I lose doesnt matter coz I can get it back (well not all things, but you know where I'm going with this.)

Dont care about winning. Dont afraid to engage your opponent in the matches. Try and take risk. You surely have experienced losing streak of more than 5 and it's devastating in your confidence. But the key is, really dont care about winning. Coz if you care only on winning, then might as well cheat. But no, dont do that. Seriously.

3. Learn fundamentals

Now this is I guess the most important part. Back in the day, I dont care about learning fundamentals like sidestepping, punishing, etc. I win by spamming, why would I bother to learn those? It's not long until I faced very strong opponents and I couldnt win. Why? Coz I dont know the basics. It's a shame.

Being demoted 5 ranks now doesnt bother me coz I went thru the same experience before. I was close to being promoted to Fujin, which is my long next goal, but I couldnt get it. Now looking back, Im not regretting it coz in exchanged, I attained enlightenment. I realized that to fully enjoy this game you have to learn how to play properly. It's like you became so messed up in your teens coz you are enjoying it, but now you finally grown up and chose how to live properly.

You can easily know which player plays fundamentally and which are not. If they rush you down so badly, then most probably they are not fundamentally good players. If the player has patience waiting for you to attack and punish you, the you've met a good player worth rematching to. And again, dont care about your rank at this point.

Check your stats once in a while. Im so glad when suddenly I got "side stepping stat" which is not appearing previously in my loading screen. Now Im aiming to get punishment stat as well. Real fun to just even think about it, isn't it?

4. Have some inspiration

When I was in green, I met one really good Asuka player. So I tried to copy him, and try to learn how he play. Yes, as any aspect in our life it's good to have someone to copy or make a role model for yourself. While it's good to copy pros like Dimeback and Lil Majin, copying your friend who is very good at the character you are playing will give u more pointers, coz at least it's realistic than copying a pro in tourneys.

5. Learn from someone/ share what you learn to someone

Ask questions, join discords, and watch or read materials from internet. Laziness is the big hurdle in this game. If you are just playing for fun which some players claim they do, you might not want to learn more. But actually learning coincides with fun. Like me right now. Learning how to punish and sidestep actually got me motivated. And Im planning to hit punishment training after this writing.

On the other hand, sharing what you learn to others reinforces what you have already know. Im trying to train or give tips to one Asuka player I met online. And it's really satisfying to see someone is improving.

6. Finally, accept yourself.

Got demoted badly? Accept the fact that maybe you belong to that specific rank for a moment and try your best to get it back by playing properly, not spamming.

Nothing is more enjoyable than recording your matches. Before, I only watch my matches when Im winning, but it's more important to watch your matches where you are badly losing so u can learn why you lose and how to deal with those moves that defeat you. You can choose to upload your matches and have someone (or in discord) watch it so they can give you tips on how to improve.

For recording tools, I recommend OBS recorder. But you can also use ingame recorder in Windows 10. Have fun.

I hope you learn a little from this guide. Here are some important materials if you are serious about improving:

1. How to practice efficiently:

https://youtu.be/CVvn1N3Z8bc

2. Teal ranks mistakes

https://youtu.be/PKCZz1kik2Y

3. Green rank mistakes

https://youtu.be/DneO0HZfrCQ

4. Yellow rank mistakes

https://youtu.be/5WMdzk7MmWg

5. Orange rank mistakes

https://youtu.be/RUO3ATIsKwg

6. Red rank mistakes

https://youtu.be/YvQGR_QjjL8

I want to give credits to the following friends who contributed to my knowledge and improving in this game:

1. Ryoda - for teaching me about fundamentals, giving me inspiration, teaching me Asuka's 50-50, letting me watch his matches, telling me to rest when Im losing, and keeping me motivated all the time.

2. SEATEK The_LEFTY - for teaching me in stream about some characters match up, encouraging me to learn Asuka's 50-50 that helped me get to purple ranks.

3. eMzez - for telling me how to approach opponents and poke and letting me watch his Asuka streams.

4. kuroro - for giving me wise advice "if it didn't break me, then nothing can break me" and also for giving me tips about Miguel match ups.

5. =\

/= - for always inviting me in sessions. My long time sparring partner.

6. candida aLbicans - for letting me fight his Tekken King Asuka

7. Tingsi - for showing me how bad I am with Asuka.

8. pablonesmrtelny - for giving me so much tips on Steam forum.

9. Voldka Delacroix - for telling me to recover when getting hit.

10. gemini - for giving me hard match ups during sparring sessions.

11. I:P セラフィン - for inspiring me when I hit plateau in yellow ranks.

12. Prismatic Lollipop - for encouraging me to focus on health coz this game makes us sick (lol).

13. Zak.o.Path - for enlightening me that I shouldn't care about ranks if Im still not a good player.

For others I didnt mention, thank you so much.