JWong teaches players how to “download” their opponent

Fighting game pro, Justin “JWong” Wong dropped some words of Street Fighter V wisdom last week, which could be applied to any fighting game. In the video, he briefly explains how to win matchups by attacking your opponent’s weaknesses and not their character’s

No matter what game we find ourselves playing and no matter how big the difference in character strengths, he reminds fans that your opponent is still the other player. JWong advises getting into your opponent’s head by testing their knowledge of your character’s frame data. No matter the matchup history between picks, if your opponent is clueless about the variance in frames, you immediately gain the advantage (even if it means playing cheap). 

Taking Chinese player Zeng "Xiao Hai" Zhuojun as an example, JWong highlighted how strong Xiao Hai is when he knows the matchup he’s playing. So a match against him with a rarely picked character could be hard for Xiao Hai because he lacks the knowledge of that character’s moves to make the right decisions. This situation leads to Xiao Hai getting “gimmicked out.”

In Summary, JWong had this advice to impart:

1. Don’t give your opponent more respect than they deserve.

2. Test your opponent. Do they know when you’re plus or minus?

3. Take advantage of your opponent’s lack of matchup knowledge.

4. Don’t assume every player is on the same level.

So next time, when you’ve got a match against a top player somewhere, try different scenarios against them and see how they react. Any window of opportunity could cost your opponent the game and win you the matchup.

Check out the video below so you can learn how to test and download opponents like the best of them.