u/CuriousAd9279

I'm in my mid-20s now, and with adult responsibilities piling up, I realistically only have time for 1–2 games a day, sometimes none. On weekends, I'd rather relax or play the ps5 rather grinding ranked for 3-4 hours.

I used to be Plat years ago, but coming back to League has been humbling. Even Bronze and Silver players seem mechanically better than what I remember.

I've always wanted to reach Diamond at least once, but I'm starting to wonder if that's realistic without dedicating hours every day to the game.

I'm not in a rush either. Even if it takes a year or two, I'd be happy with that.

Has anyone here managed to reach Diamond or higher while playing casually with limited time? Is consistent improvement possible with just a couple of games a day, or am I underestimating how much commitment it takes?

Would love to hear from people who've actually done it.

Hey people of Dublin,

I just arrived here recently for my studies on a scholarship and wanted to ask something.

Ive always been a pretty talkative person and tbh ive never really faced much racism in my life as a POC. Im from a country thats kinda a tourist hub so ive always been used to foreigners being around, helping them, giving directions, talking to them and stuff like that. So I guess I came here expecting people to be kinda similar.

But in my first few days here I was just walking around exploring and some teenagers made a few comments towards me and told me to go back to my country. I didnt really react or anything, I have pretty thick skin and at the end of the day theyre kids so I just let it pass. Obviously I know a few teenagers dont represent all of Dublin either.

But since then ive been wondering if theres just a bit more tension here than what im used to. Im not sure if its because of the housing crisis, cost of living, immigration debates or just normal big city behaviour.

Ive also noticed people seem a lot more closed off in public. A lot of people are on their phones, dont really make eye contact or smile much, and coming from somewhere more social it feels a bit colder than what im used to.

Not trying to insult Dublin btw, ive literally just arrived so I obviously dont know the place properly yet. Just genuinely curious if this is normal here or if the city has changed a bit in recent years.

This is my first Ninja Gaiden game, im on Chapter 8 playing Normal and honestly loving the combat, but im starting to wonder if im learning the game properly

I usually save almost everything for bosses. Healing, big heals, damage buffs, defence buffs etc. I barely use them on normal enemies.

The first boss, actually gave me trouble because I was completely new and had no idea how to manage anything yet. But when I reached the Chapter 7 boss, I went in fully stocked, used all my healing + offence/defence buffs and beat him first try. It felt kinda weird because ive seen people call him one of the first real walls/noob stompers.

What makes me question it more is that when I watch other people fight him on Normal, they're doing way more advanced stuff than me. Im mostly doing basic XXXX/YYYY combos, perfect parries/dodges and Bloodraven when needed. I barely remember most of the combos ive unlocked

So is this pretty normal for a first Normal playthrough, or am I relying on consumables enough that im avoiding learning the combat properly? Should I just keep going and learn the deeper stuff naturally, or spend some time in practice first?

Not trying to brag about the first try btw lol, its actually the reason im worried im doing something wrong.

I'm 25, and in about a month I'll finally be buying my very first guitar. Growing up, I always wanted to learn, but my parents thought instruments were a waste of time, so I never got the chance. Now that I'm on my own, I can finally make that childhood dream happen.

I've never touched a guitar before, and I'm really excited. While I'm waiting to buy it, I was wondering what I should be learning beforehand so I'm not going in completely blind.

Should I start with some basic music theory? Learn the notes, chords, rhythm, or maybe just watch beginner lessons? Is there anything you wish you had learned before you picked up your first guitar?

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

I've been trying to learn Guile, but I feel completely lost in neutral.

Right now I honestly only know Sonic Boom, Flash Kick, and one basic combo (cr.MP, cr.MP into Flash Kick, then SA3 if I have it). Other than that, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing.

I keep throwing out Flash Kicks in neutral and getting punished. I'm also scared to throw Sonic Booms because I feel like people will just jump over them on a read. Most of my offense is literally Drive Rush into throw, and if they don't jump, I just sit there crouching waiting for them to do something.

I don't really understand when to use Guile's normals, kicks, or how to actually start pressure. Can someone take a look at a few of my replays and tell me what I'm doing wrong?

• vs Akuma: D4A7QXYMM
• vs Luke: CCKCKNHMD
• vs Alex: KB6SN5YEG

I'd really appreciate any advice. Even if it's harsh, I just want to understand how Guile is actually supposed to be played.

I've got around 200 hours in SF6 and honestly I feel really stuck. I know that's not a lot compared to many of you, but I feel like I'm a pretty slow learner.

I mainly play Guile (Gold 3), with Ryu (Gold 1), Akuma, and M. Bison (Silver). One of my biggest problems is I keep switching between these characters because I don't know who actually suits me.

If anyone has some free time, I'd really appreciate if you could look at a couple of my replays or even my profile. I'm also down to get coached or run some sets if you're interested. I don't have much money, but I'd love to have a coaching session that could help me improve. (im playing in Asian servers)

User Code: 2994232425
Discord: sunkfee

Replay IDs:

• JB34KUCEL (vs Zangief)
• DR4DWLYQL (vs Ed)

I struggle a lot against patient, defensive players. With Guile, I feel like I don't know how to transition from zoning into strong offense. I watch good Guiles constantly drive rush, frame trap, and keep pressure going, while I just feel lost.

If you think Guile isn't the right character for me after watching my gameplay, I'm completely open to suggestions too. I just wanna improve, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

I play Classic Akuma and Ryu in Bronze-Gold ranks and I seriously need help understanding how to deal with this type of player because they tilt me more than anything else in this game.

Im not talking about people jumping in where I can just DP them. Im talking about the people that hit you once then just jump away like rabbits for the rest of the round. I always end up chasing them and it drives me insane.

One character that does this to me all the time is Ingrid. She just throws fireballs, I slowly work my way in, then the second I finally get close she just jumps all the way back across the screen. Then she starts doing that dance charge thing again and now I gotta walk all the way back in again.

Its not even just Ingrid. So many people in my rank play like this. Hit, jump away, jump over me, jump back again, repeat. Sometimes they even jump right above my head and I just get clipped trying to deal with it. The whole match just turns into me chasing them around.

The biggest problem is honestly my mental. I know im probably doing exactly what they want by chasing them, but after a while I just cant help it. I get so annoyed that I stop thinking and just run after them. It tilts me so much.

Also is it just me or does Bronze/Gold have like zero character variety? Every session feels like Modern Zangief, Modern Mai, Modern Cammy and Jamie. Like damn can I fight a Lily, Marisa, Manon or somebody else for once.

I really want advice from shoto players. Not just matchup advice but mindset too. How do you stop getting baited into chasing these players? I feel like this is one of the biggest things holding me back.

I've been playing Akuma on Classic for about 3 months now and I'm honestly losing my mind.

I don't want to switch to Modern at all. I actually enjoy learning Classic and doing everything myself, but it's getting really frustrating. But then my friends buy SF6, play for like a week on Modern, and suddenly they're bullying me because they're beating me. They keep saying I'm bad because I've played longer than them, but they can just hit confirm into Level 3 with a couple of buttons while I'm trying my hardest to do everything manually. All i can do is block and chip them very slowly, but if they play modern Ingrid or JP im completely screwed, I genuinely have no answer to that.

The worst part is modern Kens and Ryus. I actually dont know what im supposed to do. I cannot contest them in a Shoryuken battle, cuz they can just press one button and i have to put a whole input + they can time my OD with theirs pretty easily. The only way I can get close to them is to slowly parry and move forward, but they can insta DR me and grab... Then its back to shoryuken spam. I cant jump cuz they have a very easy anti-air.

People keep telling me to learn neutral, but it's hard when every mistake gets punished by one button autocombo into special.

I'm honestly getting really tilted. I really want to stick with Classic, but Modern players are making me hate the game sometimes.

Any advice from people who went through this?

Been thinking about dropping Mishimas and maybe switching to a less movement heavy character and wanted to hear what u guys think.

Basically ive gone through way too many controllers over the years playing Tekken. I feel like all the wavedashing, electrics, movement, kbd etc just destroys my dpad eventually. At this point im actually scared to use the dpad properly on new controllers lol.

I recently got an 8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wukong edition and im lowkey afraid to even test it with Kazuya. Ive spent so much time using analog instead of dpad cuz in the back of my mind im always thinking "what if i wear this thing out too".

Was thinking about picking up someone like Dragunov instead so im not constantly spamming movement inputs every few seconds. Is that a dumb reason to switch characters?

Any Mishima pad players here that have dealt with this? Do u guys just accept that controllers are consumables and eventually gonna die? Also if anyone has experience with the 8BitDo controller, how does the dpad hold up for Tekken?

Maybe im overthinking this whole thing but im curious what u guys would do.

So I’m currently Gold 3 and my goal is to hit Emerald before December. I’ve been thinking a lot about my champ pool and I really want to keep it limited to only 3 champs because I feel like if I play too many, I never actually improve properly.

Right now the 3 champs I want to use are:

• Shen as my main
• Jax as my secondary
• Ornn as my tank/scaling pick

The way I see it, these 3 kinda cover most of top lane if used correctly.

I like Shen into a lot of AA-heavy champs and matchups where I can impact the map more. Jax feels really good into ranged champs, skill matchups, or duelists like Fiora and Gwen where I feel like Shen or Ornn would struggle too much. Then Ornn feels like my safe blind/tank pick into heavy AD bruisers or early game champs like Renekton where I can just scale and be useful no matter what.

My main goal isn’t really to “win lane every game,” but more to have answers for most types of matchups while still keeping the pool small enough to actually improve.

Do you guys think this is a good lineup for climbing to Emerald? Or do you think I’m missing a certain type of champ/playstyle? Also, is there a champ that would completely destroy all 3 of these picks?

Any feedback is appreciated.

I just reached Bushin for the first time with Kazuya, and honestly I don’t even know how to feel about it. I’ve been going up against Tekken Kings, Emperors, and other Bushins, and the skill difference compared to Kishin feels massive. The biggest thing that stands out to me is sidestepping. Up until now I barely saw people use it properly, but here it feels like everyone is constantly stepping in neutral and just controlling space in a way I don’t understand. What really shocked me was seeing someone sidestep during my combo timing and actually punish me, I didn’t even know people could do that at this level.

The problem is I genuinely don’t know how to sidestep properly. Every time I try, I just get clipped and launched, so now I’m hesitant to even use it. It’s the same with wavedashing, I never really practiced it seriously, and whenever I try to incorporate it, I just get hit out of it. I worked hard to get to this rank, but right now it feels like I’m about to get demoted back to Kishin, and it’s making me feel like I don’t belong here at all.

For players around Bushin and above, how did you actually learn movement at this level? Are there any specific drills, habits, or videos that helped you understand sidestepping and timing better? I feel kind of lost right now and like I’ve hit a wall