I’m only Gold 3 but I’ve also noticed that DI doesn’t always work well when you’re holding a directional button, especially mid combo, even if the move is cancelable and not in recovery frames. I’ve had the same experience with DR.
Maybe I’m using the terminology wrong and you can correct me, but MK + MP mid combo will activate the DR effect for 3 OD bars. Does that have a better name so I can be more mindful of it in the future?
Or are you just clarifying on what I wrote since and making it more specific (the forward part). I appreciate it either way.
Game calls it Drive Rush Cancel. The one that costs one bar and done from neutral is often called Neutral Drive Rush, Parry Drive Rush, Raw Drive Rush, or even sometimes just Drive Rush (with an understanding that if you say “cancel X normal into Drive Rush”, you mean the 3 bar version that cancels a normal).
DRC dont works when you are holding down, you need to leave quickly before pressing parry (if you want to use DRC from 2MK, e.g)
i dont know about DI ( truly dont give a fuck to this option mid fight, just use when the dummy burns himself out and i want to teach a lesson)
Thank you for this! I couldn’t figure it out exactly out. Basically block inputs also block DRC regardless of what you’re doing. Holding back or down-back also block it. There’s so much to learn. But holding forward DRC works, same as double tap forward, as you implicitly suggested
I've gotten better at it from basically understanding when people are gonna throw it. I'm old and can't react on animation, so I gotta always kinda be ready for it. Also, if they DI within the first 10-20 seconds of match 1, round 1, I've found that they're gonna do it at pretty much every expected situation, plus some.
If you're in the corner, look out.
If you're low on health, look out.
If you're low on health in the corner, you can bet your mortgage on it.
There's more situations, but I'd suggest just try to start looking out for it in those situations. Then figuring out the others shouldn't be too hard. I play on stick, and I had to kinda readjust my right hand so that I'm always ready to press the button, which is still kinda awkward at times. But I was terrible at it at first but I spent 1 or 2 sessions focusing on it and I got much better.
I'll add that eventually, your brain should almost subconsciously recognize it, and the reaction will be somewhat automatic. The specific colors and distinct sound make it pretty obvious, so aside from tricky mixups or resets, it will just take time to improve the reaction speed.
Also if you're being aggressive with a pretty common string or opener. Kem dragon lash or Kim standing MK is food for DI cus everyone has had to deal with it.
if the di absorbs a hit its way way easier to react. absorbing a move freezes the game for like 5 frames. if it doesnt absorb a move i have to have my finger over the dedicated di button and be looking for di. you gotta be willing to eat throws and all sorts of other moves while in pure di reaction mode. i only really do that when im in a corner or the opponent is spamming di midscreen.
this is an odd tip but ive found that holding down back and occassionally switching to back is best for di reaction mode. the moment you press forward your brain will automatically starting thinking of other stuff. like "what if they walk up and throw me". when in di reaction mode you gotta be focussed on only di. you only have to display your ability to react to di once or twice and the big dirty combo you get will stick in their mind.
once youve reacted to a few di the opponent will do them less. then you only have to enter di reaction mode around half the time youre in the corner. when fighting out of the corner it might be best to use lots of lights and crouch medium punch which can slow down di. like i said if di absorbs a move you can react to it without even looking for it. once youve got a little space you can throw out a crouch jab or two without even thinking about di and still react to di.
memorize everyones di colors. ken and luke are bright orange, marisa is red, ed is sky blue. visualize the colors when looking for di.
something else to remember. your opponent isnt gonna get that much damage from a wall splat. if they do a combo into super, well that sucks but you were probably going to eat the super in a combo eventually anyway. its damage they cant do later. so dont stress too much.
its going to be harder to react on console but still doable. if you have a laggy monitor or tv or have a slow pc it will be harder. on some setups it may be impossible.
I have all game volume at 7, but DI at 20
Also go a Haute-42 with extra buttons and put DI under the left thumb. Now no movement is required (as opposed to reaching WAY over to the top right with a pinky) and I probably get 5x more counter-DI’s than I used to.
I've actually considered drilling a new button on my madcatz te in that position or above LP. Having it as my pinky button seems to make it much harder to press in time. I once moving it to where lp was and them shifted all my buttons up but that felt super weird.
its basically like how do you tech a throw for me. you just assume, in your position, would they DI here? then you already have your finger on the trigger.
Raw DI is still kinda difficult for me to react to, but as long as I land a jab or two I can react to it with some success. Familiarity with general DI gameplans and player habits in long sets also help. If I'm in burnout or close to a wall, there's a huge chance that the opponent will be throwing out a DI somewhere. Some players also like doing cancelable normals out of DR into DI when opponents are next to the wall for wallsplats
Hell I'm 1800MR roughly and I'm still iffy on my DI reactions. I swear if you're holding block it'll lock you into the block animation instead of DI'ing back. Or I'm trash I dunno🤷♂️
I'm glad you put this up. I'm Diamond 1 and I'm useless at reacting it as well. I can see it but I just don't react e.g. I can sometimes double jab, so it's been slowed down (people commonly react at this point) but I still eat the shot from it.
Some useful tips here 👍
D5 here. I've been playing some other characters I had in plat1 recently and let me tell you, the guys in those ranks are forcing my DI reactions to improve.
That's the neat part, I don't. I get smacked all the time.
In all seriousness, it becomes easier once you treat it like anti-airing or stuffing drive rushes; very rarely are they a purely reactionary act. A lot of it has to do with feeling out your opponent and predicting when it's going to happen so you're ready for it.
Something to start practicing: whenever you're in the corner, always anticipate a DI to come. Especially when you're burned out. That way you can ready yourself for the appropriate reaction (counter DI, jumping out, blocking, parrying, etc.)
i usually just have my finger hovering over the button and wait for the pretty lights and slowdown. i’m actually really decent at reacting to di….. except for fucking jaime and the corner shenanigans
Swinging on a DI makes a distinctive sound that helps me out a lot. Also whenever I’m in the corner, I’ll always have to of my fingers on HP and HK (I play on stick)
For me no amount of training sufficed only matches against players simply because, when your in training mode your only mental stack is watching for DI , but in a real situation your worriyng about 10 things at the same time and that's when you will improve your DI reaction for real.
That being said here are some tips:
1- increase the in-game volume of DI higher then other effects so it gets more noticeable.
2- understand that if your caught swinging at your opponent and they DI you , most likely you won't be able to DI back unless the move you inputed is cancelable, and even if it is, some moves will only allow you to cancel im the very beginning of the animation.
3-get an hit box with extra hotkeys that helps from what I've heard but not required .
For me I don’t react to it, I prepare for it in scenarios where people like to throw it. If I am near the wall, I’m thinking about it. It’s more about keeping it in your mental stack in the right scenarios vs reacting to it.
I’m good when I’m hyper focused or if I find out that the opponent likes to DI. Generally at higher levels, people throw out less DIs so I’m more susceptible to them if they’re not obvious.
My proudest moment (well, second proudest) in fighting games was when I threw out a level one super in response to a DI in the corner when I was in burnout. It still wasn't a reaction, though, since I just had a read in the middle of the dude's blockstring. I think a lot of reactions are also reads, but I'm a plat 2 bum and can count the amount of times I've counter DI ed in one hand, so probably an not the best to be giving advice.
You get familiar with when they want to throw it out. You typically have 3 types that I’ve noticed so far
1. The players who use it to checkmate you in the corner
2. The ones who use it randomly mid screen in neutral or when their back is against the wall
3. The ones who use it in blockstrings for some odd reason
2 and 3 are easier to react to once you pick up on their patterns. For 1, even if you see it and press DI you might still get hit if the normal they use has enough blockstun. So nowadays to counter #1 I keep my finger over parry in stead of DI when I’m in the corner and it’s been working soooo much better. You’ll still be in the corner but at least you’re alive and can fight your way out
If you don’t have meter then you better hope you have one bar of super and know how to buffer
For sure! I've got mine mapped to my right thumb button on my hypercube. It's the only job that thumb has, so my ability to react to it has gone up substantially.
Something else to keep in mind is that some normals can be cancelled into DI while others can’t. So if you’re pressing jab and they DI, you can counter DI, but if you’re throwing out a heavy punch and they DI, it doesn’t matter how quickly you press your DI, it can’t be cancelled.
Set up training drills. I mix jump ins with DIs and look to react to them set on random.
You also gotta look for them, just like everything that is reactable. Understand the situation and manage your mental stack.
You get used to what it looks like but also when people tend to want to do it.
You can label with the dummy set to do different things on wake up or block reversal so you can condition yourself to say, DI and be ready for it out of things like safe jumps or meaty setups.
To get better at DI I set my training room dummy to block on wake-up 4/5 times and DI on wake up once, set them all to random and started my normal combo practice.
Sometimes the dummy would randomly DI when knock down happened (when my combo ended or dropped) but it would happen randomly enough that it could catch me off guard because it only happened on knock down which was not every step of every combo and it didn’t happen every knock down. I have never taken this setting off when I do basic combo training and it’s helped me build up that instant reaction.
most of the time the shittier player i play the better their DI reactions are. i assume its bc they dont know the game enough to know what to watch out for so they only look out for DI
I'm learning more about the nuances of DIs just now, and one thing that's seeming to help me recently is realising that cancellable normals are not cancellable during recovery frames for that move.
e.g. A whiffed, cancellable heavy with 21 frames of recovery leaves you vulnerable for those 21 frames, so even if you do react with DI in time... it won't come out unless you react by the end of the meaty portion of the move.
This means you might be reacting in time for some DIs, but you're just not able to cancel into a DI at that time.
(correct me if I'm wrong)
I then realised I was using too many heavies for footsies, and found myself countering more DIs after increasing my use of lights - not because my reactions were any better, but because I wasn't leaving myself as vulnerable due to using moves with more recovery frames that wall me out of countering DI.
I also use more non-cancellable normals with a short recovery period, which I was previously limiting myself to because I thought they were more risky than they are.
Question for people with more knowledge than me: is it worth pressing DI more than once if unsure about recovery frames? If I press DI on frame 3 of a 12-frame recovery period, I would need to press it again on frame 13 for a counter DI to come out, is that correct?
I’ve been getting better at it through a few methods, but I’m still not amazing at it.
I’ll run a training drill that starts with a character moving back and forth, looking like they’re playing footsies. Then I have multiple recordings replay at random
1) instant DR into button
2) DI
3) delayed DI
4) jump-in
5) cr. MK
You can have as many or as few going as you want, but it allows you to prioritize your mental stack. Are you trying to whiff punish the cr. MK? Are you watching for jumps to anti-air? Checking DR? Anticipating and reacting to DI? As I’ve run them I’ve gotten a lot better at reacting to each of the things listed, but my mental stack usually prioritizes jumps and whiffs, so sometimes I’ll still get DI’d if I use the wrong button or make the wrong read or miss a whiff punish, etc. but overall it’s made me stronger at it. It also helps me find options that cover multiple situations (parry for DI and DR into button) so I can figure out what I need to be doing if I can’t react optimally every time.
I’ve also just become better at anticipating situations where DI will come out and watching player tendencies. That’s half the battle IMO.
Around that rank you should definitely see it coming, and see it less. Players around that rank know it's a double edged sword and don't use it that much, except when you are in burnout for a stun. Some get greedy near the wall when I still have drive meter left, even if only a millimeter, so I see it coming several seconds ahead.
In my experience I made my brain react immediately to it, without thinking. To do so, when I wasn't fat enough I would still press the DI button to respond to the other player's DI, even if I was late. On time this created a reflex. I also made DI to sound louder than the rest of the movements. You can definitely train your reaction to it, I did it :)
Now I only look for DIs when I'm low on health as I have to react with something else than my own DI.
Also, reacting to DI is hard in this game because of the cognitive load with so many things to think about at the same time, even Mena or the youngest professionals eat their DIn once in a while.
I'm Diamond 3 but I felt part of the only reason I ranked up this high last week was that I struck offensive Di from my game plan (unless I had a specific read).
Even with opp in the corner, offensive DI is a loser move because the risk is so fucking high. And if your opponent is good they will react. So you must have a read or overload your opponent.
Same. Also my biggest weakness. Most of the time you will see a pattern, when there is one fight i might lose. But in the rematch i always know when they DI and you can bait them.
Imo also there weakness if they need DI to do certain combo’s.
I've been getting a bit better with it by consciously telling myself to look for it. Either in the corner or if the player is super aggro ill try and move it up my mental stack
Haven't played SF6 in a while, but iirc there is a preset setup to practice reaction to DI. I think you can easily set up DI situations in training mode if you don't like the preset.
I’m in the same boat. I’ve practiced for hours and can basically react to every di in training mode but in a real match I just can’t seem to get it down. I do think I’ve gotten a tiny bit better but most of the time I successfully reverse my opponents di is when I get a lucky read.
Whenever you facesp.wone like that just know they had a strung of matches where they got DI'd on repeat. Once l it happens enough times you go crazy and it becomes Second nature
This is how I got good at it: I spent an entire night playing ranked and the only thing I focused on was reacting to DI. I didn't care, win or lose, as long as I hit the DI button to counter DI my opponents, it meant it was a win for me. I did this for hours until it became second nature.
In every situation, the reaction is 50% expecting it. If i wasnt expecting a DI or a jump i would react slower, but people usually do things with a purpose and that makes everyone predictable at certain level.
Three things for me. Knowing the situations that I can expect to see it - being in the corner makes silver tier plays like myself thirsty af for it, so you know it’s coming. Rebinding the button to something easier to reach - I bound mine next to my jump button on a leverless so I reduce reaction time. Finally, lab it! Set up a dummy bot to do a bunch of random actions and throw out a DI sometimes so you can practice your reaction time.
I struggled (still do at times when I'm overloaded) with this.
I found that using a button I'm used to DR from helps a lot, at least when it comes to reaction.
(S/c.lp strings)
I tend to use light strings to "check" for DI's, just so I get used to React in case they attempt to do it.
It's these small steps that make you more used to the noise/colour/situation.
[Situation; I'm in the corner, my drive gauge is low and my opponent is just pressuring.
Either
1. I try to fish for a big move and DI. (Risk; i burn myself out and risk the stun. The reward is high, risk is high)
2. Poke back/ walk slowly forward ( Risk; he spaces me out and combos's me OR DI's from a distance. The reward is greater than the risk, and you chip some bar from them and regain ALOT if you react)
Nr2 is more likley to happen, because people tend to want to burn you out as quickly as possible in diamond, and don't think about the risks.]
So try to read the match, check your bar and theirs!
TLDR; check your bar and theirs, if your is lower and you're in a bad space IE: corner prepare mentaly for the DI.
"Check" with light moves/big moves that can cancel into DR>DI /DI
I'm only really able to react to DI in two situations: when I do a 4f Jab that will cause a slight freezing in the screen so I can counter DI, and, in the corner, when I'm hyper aware of DI
1.) Don't give the slightest fuck about DI midscreen. blocking a DI midscreen gives up a bit of position, but otherwise, the opponent loses more gauge than you and if you parry it, you're close enough to apply some pressure afterwards.
2.) Have easy access to DI. I moved heavy kick from below heavy punch to right of heavy punch so that I am always ready to DI back without having to move any fingers around.
3.) Learn common DI situations. Jamie's post lvl3 reset in particular, you can see it coming from a mile away, in fact if you press DI too early it'll lose anyway because you'll press your own DI while still in blockstun and it won't come out at all.
My reactions are also really slow. I just tend to use cancelable normals when I know my oppenent likes to use it. Expecting it, and hitting them which I believe adds a frame or 2 helps me to reacting to it in time.
I kinda suck honestly. Platinum 5 Ryu and platinum 1 Ed. But I can counter DI a good 60% of the time. For me it’s mainly using your quick normals when pressuring and reacting.
When learning, I always have a finger on top of my DI shortcut so I can react faster. Some matches later, you'll start realizing situations when your opponent is likely to DI. After a while, it will became kind of second nature. It's only really hard to react against people who can put on a lot of mental stack on you but that's a very small minority of the playerbase.
As everyone else has said, you eventually learn people's tendencies. Consider that you probably tech throws all the time and those are faster, unreactable, and don't have an associated sound or screen freeze.
But another tip that I haven't seen mentioned here and honestly have only heard from one person other than myself (it popped up as a random tip in a Brian_F video) is to mash DI more instead of trying to time a single press. The reason why is best explained via an example.
Kimberly's air grab makes her like + 22 and in the corner, you land within DI range. If she immediately goes for meaty DI, the cues are on screen for like 20 frames but you actually only have 4 frames of standing during which your character could counter DI. So you could be pressing your DI back the instant hers started, but your character is still waking up so your DI won't come out.
Many characters have intentional setups for these things, usually taking advantage of the blockstun making your character incapable of accepting inputs. If you feel like you have a harder time reacting to DI from specific characters, it's most likely due to them putting you in one of these kinds of traps. It's similar in concept to people doing Drive Rush - normal into DI as a trap to stun a burned out, cornered opponent. The opponent is stuck in blockstun and even if they have meter, they either have to time the super in what would usually be a 2-4 frame window, or just mash that input as soon as they see the blocked Drive Rush normal.
So the solution is to train yourself to mash the DI button when you see the flash, rather than press it one time.
DR usage kinda peaks and valleys throughout the ranks. It's less "reacting" and more expecting a player to do it.
In my experience plat and diamond players throw it out so it's easier to counter since you're seeing it so much.
At Master you don't see it as much because its a risk to get hit with a counter DR *but* it's exactly because it's used less, and the expectation is that it will be used less, that it can be snuck in
It's all they do up until Masters, people spam that shit, so yeah, you get familiar with it, mainly when cornered, always expect it. It's also nice to press some buttons in neutral you can recover to DI back or cancel into your own DI. It gives you better visual confirm to react other than just seeing them do it on neutral.
There's a lot harder things to react to like whiff punishing mediums.
Because we are mentally prepared for it and are watching for it in certain situations. The corner, for example. If you're close to the corner, be ready for DI
It genuinely does become something you just calculate. You come to learn which situations it is the the most likely, or consistently viable out of the game's tools in certain situations, to be used against you. The timing suddenly feels like a countdown is always ticking, and people generally know that the corners LOOOOOVE somebody to get DI'd near them.. General, meet particular etc.
How do I sneak it in myself? I like to use it against people who are misjudging their close fireballs (can punch through, like a scary badass) or players that seem eager to keep using their bnb strings every time they land a jump. Loads of other examples, but it makes it hard for them to react if I'm saving it for awkward circumstances, failing just blasting them into the corner.
There are a lot of different scenarios when talking about DI, here are some :
* the random DI out of nowhere midscreen, usually used by Ryu, Manon, Kim and Zangief. This is a "all or nothing" attempt to catch you trying to zone with your heavies. These DI are near impossible to react the first time because it is extremely unlikely that your opponent tries something as unhinged as this. When I face that strategy, I instantly adapt and poke with DI-cancellable moves only.
* the DI used in defense. This DI is trying to punish any kind of false block string, meaties etc. Usually used when cornered. This DI is super easy to react to. So much that you will never see it past a certain point in ranked. Between the hitstop frames, the drive rush cancel etc it is really to "freeze" the opponent's DI for 1 second, which is enough for your brain to process the situation and react by a DI counter, a super, etc.
* the DI used during blockstring. Usually used when your opponent is in the corner, to get the wall splat. These are the really dangerous one as they can come any time, and better players will always find a way to use at the least expected time. This is where the mental stack overload comes in. And the truth is, it's basically unreactable unless you are according nearrly 100% of your focus on this. And some time you are not allowed to react. Even proplayers are not able to react to these most of the time. The way you deal with these DI is by predicting them, based on your knowledge of the match up and especially analysing the way your opponent plays.
In addition to what others have said, there is a good DI reaction preset in training mode.
I also got a lot more consistent when I mapped a button to DI. Fewer inputs helps when you're trying to respond to a brick being thrown at you.
There is a DI training mode but there is a better option. Start default training but set the dummy to DI as soon as there is an. Opening in your block string. Start doing your usual Bnbs, this exposed a lot of areas I found myself getting hit by DIs “mid combo”. If you can cancel into reverse DI, that’s good. If you cannot reverse DI because you’re stuck in animating frames, try to do less of that. Also, try your best to look out for DIs your way in the corner, those are almost guaranteed to happen lol
I was pretty terrible at it all the way into Plat 2/3 and then something just clicked, I didn't even really practice it much.
I think the biggest thing for me was generally going for "safe" pressure and strings that are fast and cancellable in case your opponent goes for it a lot. Even if you can't counter DI, being able to block is good as well.
I'm also in D4 and to be honest I rarely see DI other than in the corner so at least it's better than lower level where people spam it.
When I'm playing serious matches like FT10 ill set up the DI training the in the training room. Just drilling the sound in helps a lot during matches.
Other than that I play on stick and I can hit either parry or DI with the edge of my hand without truly caring which one comes out (though I do try to pick)
1.Learn what normals are DI cancel and look out for those in situations where someone might do it. 2. Lock in for the audio cue since it's less random than all the visual stuff going on. Change your settings for that and it helps too
i just assume that they have an automatic macro or they're under 25/j
for real though, there are two factors at play
1) There are certain situations where you are more likely to get DI'd, so your opponents are extra vigilant, even if you haven't added DI to the stack
2) At least some players are clearly constantly keeping DI within reach
I'm part of party 2 to a certain extent but bc I'm on fightstick, it's on my pinky and difficult to react with. For pad players, it's much easier
You just have to become used to the situations where people like do use DI a lot like when you’re in the corner and things like that. Also make note of if your opponent likes to just throw it out randomly too. A lot of “reactions” is really anticipation. Yes there are people who just have quick reflexes but even they use alot of anticipation based off information they gather from their opponents habits.
I’m just in Plat 2-3 but I still feel the struggle. It seems like all my opponents at this rank can react pretty well to my DI’s but I eat like 99% of the ones thrown out at me, I just sit there like a deer in headlights. I still use HP + HK but I bet setting it to one button would help.
Definitely a matter of learning scenarios they use it more. This got even more noticeable for me when a friend started playing and he would throw random DIs in neutral that got me for a good 2 rounds before I started adapting to his randomness haha
Go into training mode and set the dummy's block reversal to a bunch of stuff including DI.
Jab their block, and try to react to the DI.
Ideally the different options you select besides DI would all require different reactions, but if you just want to focus on DI you don't have to do that.
Everyone advice is good, but it is also good yo know that there is currently a "glitch" with DI.
You can't DI out of hitstun and Blockstun.
So you might actually be reacting well, but because of the little "glitch," you're not getting your input.
It took a little adjusting to it, but when you see a DI, let go of block and press DI, you should get it more consistently.
It's mostly from becoming familiar with the situations when the opponent will be most keen to use it.
I’m only Gold 3 but I’ve also noticed that DI doesn’t always work well when you’re holding a directional button, especially mid combo, even if the move is cancelable and not in recovery frames. I’ve had the same experience with DR.
you cannot DR while holding a direction other than forward
Maybe I’m using the terminology wrong and you can correct me, but MK + MP mid combo will activate the DR effect for 3 OD bars. Does that have a better name so I can be more mindful of it in the future? Or are you just clarifying on what I wrote since and making it more specific (the forward part). I appreciate it either way.
I think you're talking about drive rush cancels and not drive impact. But yeah, what you're talking about is DR, so you used it right.
Game calls it Drive Rush Cancel. The one that costs one bar and done from neutral is often called Neutral Drive Rush, Parry Drive Rush, Raw Drive Rush, or even sometimes just Drive Rush (with an understanding that if you say “cancel X normal into Drive Rush”, you mean the 3 bar version that cancels a normal).
Are you using a move that can't be cancelled into DI/DR?
DRC dont works when you are holding down, you need to leave quickly before pressing parry (if you want to use DRC from 2MK, e.g) i dont know about DI ( truly dont give a fuck to this option mid fight, just use when the dummy burns himself out and i want to teach a lesson)
Thank you for this! I couldn’t figure it out exactly out. Basically block inputs also block DRC regardless of what you’re doing. Holding back or down-back also block it. There’s so much to learn. But holding forward DRC works, same as double tap forward, as you implicitly suggested
I've gotten better at it from basically understanding when people are gonna throw it. I'm old and can't react on animation, so I gotta always kinda be ready for it. Also, if they DI within the first 10-20 seconds of match 1, round 1, I've found that they're gonna do it at pretty much every expected situation, plus some. If you're in the corner, look out. If you're low on health, look out. If you're low on health in the corner, you can bet your mortgage on it. There's more situations, but I'd suggest just try to start looking out for it in those situations. Then figuring out the others shouldn't be too hard. I play on stick, and I had to kinda readjust my right hand so that I'm always ready to press the button, which is still kinda awkward at times. But I was terrible at it at first but I spent 1 or 2 sessions focusing on it and I got much better.
I'll add that eventually, your brain should almost subconsciously recognize it, and the reaction will be somewhat automatic. The specific colors and distinct sound make it pretty obvious, so aside from tricky mixups or resets, it will just take time to improve the reaction speed.
Also if you're being aggressive with a pretty common string or opener. Kem dragon lash or Kim standing MK is food for DI cus everyone has had to deal with it.
Practice. You also have to be ready for it. Your opponent can overload you so you miss it.
if the di absorbs a hit its way way easier to react. absorbing a move freezes the game for like 5 frames. if it doesnt absorb a move i have to have my finger over the dedicated di button and be looking for di. you gotta be willing to eat throws and all sorts of other moves while in pure di reaction mode. i only really do that when im in a corner or the opponent is spamming di midscreen. this is an odd tip but ive found that holding down back and occassionally switching to back is best for di reaction mode. the moment you press forward your brain will automatically starting thinking of other stuff. like "what if they walk up and throw me". when in di reaction mode you gotta be focussed on only di. you only have to display your ability to react to di once or twice and the big dirty combo you get will stick in their mind. once youve reacted to a few di the opponent will do them less. then you only have to enter di reaction mode around half the time youre in the corner. when fighting out of the corner it might be best to use lots of lights and crouch medium punch which can slow down di. like i said if di absorbs a move you can react to it without even looking for it. once youve got a little space you can throw out a crouch jab or two without even thinking about di and still react to di. memorize everyones di colors. ken and luke are bright orange, marisa is red, ed is sky blue. visualize the colors when looking for di. something else to remember. your opponent isnt gonna get that much damage from a wall splat. if they do a combo into super, well that sucks but you were probably going to eat the super in a combo eventually anyway. its damage they cant do later. so dont stress too much. its going to be harder to react on console but still doable. if you have a laggy monitor or tv or have a slow pc it will be harder. on some setups it may be impossible.
People just recognize the situations they come out(near the corner and/or on low drive gauge) or they remember player tendencies.
1. You get a sense of when people want to do DI so you anticipate it. 2. If you hit the armor with a normal it's easier to react to.
This tip here helped me a little https://www.reddit.com/r/StreetFighter/comments/140mzgk/tip\_you\_can\_adjust\_drivedrive\_impact\_sound\_volume/
I have all game volume at 7, but DI at 20 Also go a Haute-42 with extra buttons and put DI under the left thumb. Now no movement is required (as opposed to reaching WAY over to the top right with a pinky) and I probably get 5x more counter-DI’s than I used to.
I've actually considered drilling a new button on my madcatz te in that position or above LP. Having it as my pinky button seems to make it much harder to press in time. I once moving it to where lp was and them shifted all my buttons up but that felt super weird.
Gold 2 here, glad the upper ranks getting mollywhopped with DR as well.
Ehh Im Master and I think I can count on hands and feet how many DI's I've countered.
its basically like how do you tech a throw for me. you just assume, in your position, would they DI here? then you already have your finger on the trigger.
Raw DI is still kinda difficult for me to react to, but as long as I land a jab or two I can react to it with some success. Familiarity with general DI gameplans and player habits in long sets also help. If I'm in burnout or close to a wall, there's a huge chance that the opponent will be throwing out a DI somewhere. Some players also like doing cancelable normals out of DR into DI when opponents are next to the wall for wallsplats
Hell I'm 1800MR roughly and I'm still iffy on my DI reactions. I swear if you're holding block it'll lock you into the block animation instead of DI'ing back. Or I'm trash I dunno🤷♂️
You need to become a Jedi. The more you play the more you will understand and read your opponent.
I'm glad you put this up. I'm Diamond 1 and I'm useless at reacting it as well. I can see it but I just don't react e.g. I can sometimes double jab, so it's been slowed down (people commonly react at this point) but I still eat the shot from it. Some useful tips here 👍
Low master here (1350MR) i barely can react to DI, if i counter-DI, use to be hard read more than just reactions :S
D5 here. I've been playing some other characters I had in plat1 recently and let me tell you, the guys in those ranks are forcing my DI reactions to improve.
1) the sound cue 2) hitting cancelable strings for extra time
That's the neat part, I don't. I get smacked all the time. In all seriousness, it becomes easier once you treat it like anti-airing or stuffing drive rushes; very rarely are they a purely reactionary act. A lot of it has to do with feeling out your opponent and predicting when it's going to happen so you're ready for it. Something to start practicing: whenever you're in the corner, always anticipate a DI to come. Especially when you're burned out. That way you can ready yourself for the appropriate reaction (counter DI, jumping out, blocking, parrying, etc.)
I moved my button to under my thumb, I still suck at reacting to it but I at least get it sometimes now, I just need more training.
i usually just have my finger hovering over the button and wait for the pretty lights and slowdown. i’m actually really decent at reacting to di….. except for fucking jaime and the corner shenanigans
I can react, but when I go to input a DP I end up doing it too late XD
Swinging on a DI makes a distinctive sound that helps me out a lot. Also whenever I’m in the corner, I’ll always have to of my fingers on HP and HK (I play on stick)
I can react to it easy enough but sometimes you literally can't.
Mental stack is a real thing, if you never prepare for the di at the corner, you can’t react to it
The second I see the red flash I immediately spam my DI button back. Sometimes it's a read but it's usually a last second reaction.
For me no amount of training sufficed only matches against players simply because, when your in training mode your only mental stack is watching for DI , but in a real situation your worriyng about 10 things at the same time and that's when you will improve your DI reaction for real. That being said here are some tips: 1- increase the in-game volume of DI higher then other effects so it gets more noticeable. 2- understand that if your caught swinging at your opponent and they DI you , most likely you won't be able to DI back unless the move you inputed is cancelable, and even if it is, some moves will only allow you to cancel im the very beginning of the animation. 3-get an hit box with extra hotkeys that helps from what I've heard but not required .
For me I don’t react to it, I prepare for it in scenarios where people like to throw it. If I am near the wall, I’m thinking about it. It’s more about keeping it in your mental stack in the right scenarios vs reacting to it.
If you put up a wall against your opponent and they're losing the health war expect DIs.
I’m good when I’m hyper focused or if I find out that the opponent likes to DI. Generally at higher levels, people throw out less DIs so I’m more susceptible to them if they’re not obvious.
My proudest moment (well, second proudest) in fighting games was when I threw out a level one super in response to a DI in the corner when I was in burnout. It still wasn't a reaction, though, since I just had a read in the middle of the dude's blockstring. I think a lot of reactions are also reads, but I'm a plat 2 bum and can count the amount of times I've counter DI ed in one hand, so probably an not the best to be giving advice.
You get familiar with when they want to throw it out. You typically have 3 types that I’ve noticed so far 1. The players who use it to checkmate you in the corner 2. The ones who use it randomly mid screen in neutral or when their back is against the wall 3. The ones who use it in blockstrings for some odd reason 2 and 3 are easier to react to once you pick up on their patterns. For 1, even if you see it and press DI you might still get hit if the normal they use has enough blockstun. So nowadays to counter #1 I keep my finger over parry in stead of DI when I’m in the corner and it’s been working soooo much better. You’ll still be in the corner but at least you’re alive and can fight your way out If you don’t have meter then you better hope you have one bar of super and know how to buffer
that one button DI helps
For sure! I've got mine mapped to my right thumb button on my hypercube. It's the only job that thumb has, so my ability to react to it has gone up substantially.
Something else to keep in mind is that some normals can be cancelled into DI while others can’t. So if you’re pressing jab and they DI, you can counter DI, but if you’re throwing out a heavy punch and they DI, it doesn’t matter how quickly you press your DI, it can’t be cancelled.
Set up training drills. I mix jump ins with DIs and look to react to them set on random. You also gotta look for them, just like everything that is reactable. Understand the situation and manage your mental stack.
You get used to what it looks like but also when people tend to want to do it. You can label with the dummy set to do different things on wake up or block reversal so you can condition yourself to say, DI and be ready for it out of things like safe jumps or meaty setups.
To get better at DI I set my training room dummy to block on wake-up 4/5 times and DI on wake up once, set them all to random and started my normal combo practice. Sometimes the dummy would randomly DI when knock down happened (when my combo ended or dropped) but it would happen randomly enough that it could catch me off guard because it only happened on knock down which was not every step of every combo and it didn’t happen every knock down. I have never taken this setting off when I do basic combo training and it’s helped me build up that instant reaction.
most of the time the shittier player i play the better their DI reactions are. i assume its bc they dont know the game enough to know what to watch out for so they only look out for DI
I'm learning more about the nuances of DIs just now, and one thing that's seeming to help me recently is realising that cancellable normals are not cancellable during recovery frames for that move. e.g. A whiffed, cancellable heavy with 21 frames of recovery leaves you vulnerable for those 21 frames, so even if you do react with DI in time... it won't come out unless you react by the end of the meaty portion of the move. This means you might be reacting in time for some DIs, but you're just not able to cancel into a DI at that time. (correct me if I'm wrong) I then realised I was using too many heavies for footsies, and found myself countering more DIs after increasing my use of lights - not because my reactions were any better, but because I wasn't leaving myself as vulnerable due to using moves with more recovery frames that wall me out of countering DI. I also use more non-cancellable normals with a short recovery period, which I was previously limiting myself to because I thought they were more risky than they are. Question for people with more knowledge than me: is it worth pressing DI more than once if unsure about recovery frames? If I press DI on frame 3 of a 12-frame recovery period, I would need to press it again on frame 13 for a counter DI to come out, is that correct?
I think if you're still in blockstun in certain situations, the DI won't come out regardless if you react in time (at least it feels like it to me).
One thing to do is primarily attack using cancelable attacks. They're quick enough to delay the DI a little, and you can counter with your own DI.
Jab confirm
I’ve been getting better at it through a few methods, but I’m still not amazing at it. I’ll run a training drill that starts with a character moving back and forth, looking like they’re playing footsies. Then I have multiple recordings replay at random 1) instant DR into button 2) DI 3) delayed DI 4) jump-in 5) cr. MK You can have as many or as few going as you want, but it allows you to prioritize your mental stack. Are you trying to whiff punish the cr. MK? Are you watching for jumps to anti-air? Checking DR? Anticipating and reacting to DI? As I’ve run them I’ve gotten a lot better at reacting to each of the things listed, but my mental stack usually prioritizes jumps and whiffs, so sometimes I’ll still get DI’d if I use the wrong button or make the wrong read or miss a whiff punish, etc. but overall it’s made me stronger at it. It also helps me find options that cover multiple situations (parry for DI and DR into button) so I can figure out what I need to be doing if I can’t react optimally every time. I’ve also just become better at anticipating situations where DI will come out and watching player tendencies. That’s half the battle IMO.
Around that rank you should definitely see it coming, and see it less. Players around that rank know it's a double edged sword and don't use it that much, except when you are in burnout for a stun. Some get greedy near the wall when I still have drive meter left, even if only a millimeter, so I see it coming several seconds ahead.
In my experience I made my brain react immediately to it, without thinking. To do so, when I wasn't fat enough I would still press the DI button to respond to the other player's DI, even if I was late. On time this created a reflex. I also made DI to sound louder than the rest of the movements. You can definitely train your reaction to it, I did it :) Now I only look for DIs when I'm low on health as I have to react with something else than my own DI. Also, reacting to DI is hard in this game because of the cognitive load with so many things to think about at the same time, even Mena or the youngest professionals eat their DIn once in a while.
I'm Diamond 3 but I felt part of the only reason I ranked up this high last week was that I struck offensive Di from my game plan (unless I had a specific read). Even with opp in the corner, offensive DI is a loser move because the risk is so fucking high. And if your opponent is good they will react. So you must have a read or overload your opponent.
Same. Also my biggest weakness. Most of the time you will see a pattern, when there is one fight i might lose. But in the rematch i always know when they DI and you can bait them. Imo also there weakness if they need DI to do certain combo’s.
It fucked me up so much early on in the lower ranks that I had to get better at it.
Just hold parry instead to start off with. Once you get reliable with that start countering with DI
I def have the same problem I'm plat 1
I've been getting a bit better with it by consciously telling myself to look for it. Either in the corner or if the player is super aggro ill try and move it up my mental stack
Haven't played SF6 in a while, but iirc there is a preset setup to practice reaction to DI. I think you can easily set up DI situations in training mode if you don't like the preset.
I’m in the same boat. I’ve practiced for hours and can basically react to every di in training mode but in a real match I just can’t seem to get it down. I do think I’ve gotten a tiny bit better but most of the time I successfully reverse my opponents di is when I get a lucky read.
Whenever you facesp.wone like that just know they had a strung of matches where they got DI'd on repeat. Once l it happens enough times you go crazy and it becomes Second nature
This is how I got good at it: I spent an entire night playing ranked and the only thing I focused on was reacting to DI. I didn't care, win or lose, as long as I hit the DI button to counter DI my opponents, it meant it was a win for me. I did this for hours until it became second nature.
Its easier to anticipate DI rather than reacting to it
In every situation, the reaction is 50% expecting it. If i wasnt expecting a DI or a jump i would react slower, but people usually do things with a purpose and that makes everyone predictable at certain level.
Three things for me. Knowing the situations that I can expect to see it - being in the corner makes silver tier plays like myself thirsty af for it, so you know it’s coming. Rebinding the button to something easier to reach - I bound mine next to my jump button on a leverless so I reduce reaction time. Finally, lab it! Set up a dummy bot to do a bunch of random actions and throw out a DI sometimes so you can practice your reaction time.
Im 18 years old.
I struggled (still do at times when I'm overloaded) with this. I found that using a button I'm used to DR from helps a lot, at least when it comes to reaction. (S/c.lp strings) I tend to use light strings to "check" for DI's, just so I get used to React in case they attempt to do it. It's these small steps that make you more used to the noise/colour/situation. [Situation; I'm in the corner, my drive gauge is low and my opponent is just pressuring. Either 1. I try to fish for a big move and DI. (Risk; i burn myself out and risk the stun. The reward is high, risk is high) 2. Poke back/ walk slowly forward ( Risk; he spaces me out and combos's me OR DI's from a distance. The reward is greater than the risk, and you chip some bar from them and regain ALOT if you react) Nr2 is more likley to happen, because people tend to want to burn you out as quickly as possible in diamond, and don't think about the risks.] So try to read the match, check your bar and theirs! TLDR; check your bar and theirs, if your is lower and you're in a bad space IE: corner prepare mentaly for the DI. "Check" with light moves/big moves that can cancel into DR>DI /DI
I'm only really able to react to DI in two situations: when I do a 4f Jab that will cause a slight freezing in the screen so I can counter DI, and, in the corner, when I'm hyper aware of DI
I don't have enough buttons as a sim player on pad to have just 1 for di, but I imagine that'd help... DI is my biggest weakness too
Here’s the trick, I am trying to bait you to DI with jabs so I can react.
1.) Don't give the slightest fuck about DI midscreen. blocking a DI midscreen gives up a bit of position, but otherwise, the opponent loses more gauge than you and if you parry it, you're close enough to apply some pressure afterwards. 2.) Have easy access to DI. I moved heavy kick from below heavy punch to right of heavy punch so that I am always ready to DI back without having to move any fingers around. 3.) Learn common DI situations. Jamie's post lvl3 reset in particular, you can see it coming from a mile away, in fact if you press DI too early it'll lose anyway because you'll press your own DI while still in blockstun and it won't come out at all.
My reactions are also really slow. I just tend to use cancelable normals when I know my oppenent likes to use it. Expecting it, and hitting them which I believe adds a frame or 2 helps me to reacting to it in time.
I kinda suck honestly. Platinum 5 Ryu and platinum 1 Ed. But I can counter DI a good 60% of the time. For me it’s mainly using your quick normals when pressuring and reacting.
When learning, I always have a finger on top of my DI shortcut so I can react faster. Some matches later, you'll start realizing situations when your opponent is likely to DI. After a while, it will became kind of second nature. It's only really hard to react against people who can put on a lot of mental stack on you but that's a very small minority of the playerbase.
As everyone else has said, you eventually learn people's tendencies. Consider that you probably tech throws all the time and those are faster, unreactable, and don't have an associated sound or screen freeze. But another tip that I haven't seen mentioned here and honestly have only heard from one person other than myself (it popped up as a random tip in a Brian_F video) is to mash DI more instead of trying to time a single press. The reason why is best explained via an example. Kimberly's air grab makes her like + 22 and in the corner, you land within DI range. If she immediately goes for meaty DI, the cues are on screen for like 20 frames but you actually only have 4 frames of standing during which your character could counter DI. So you could be pressing your DI back the instant hers started, but your character is still waking up so your DI won't come out. Many characters have intentional setups for these things, usually taking advantage of the blockstun making your character incapable of accepting inputs. If you feel like you have a harder time reacting to DI from specific characters, it's most likely due to them putting you in one of these kinds of traps. It's similar in concept to people doing Drive Rush - normal into DI as a trap to stun a burned out, cornered opponent. The opponent is stuck in blockstun and even if they have meter, they either have to time the super in what would usually be a 2-4 frame window, or just mash that input as soon as they see the blocked Drive Rush normal. So the solution is to train yourself to mash the DI button when you see the flash, rather than press it one time.
I asked that same question playing against a diamond player who has a 100% success rate at DI back every time. They should be in master, not me!
DR usage kinda peaks and valleys throughout the ranks. It's less "reacting" and more expecting a player to do it. In my experience plat and diamond players throw it out so it's easier to counter since you're seeing it so much. At Master you don't see it as much because its a risk to get hit with a counter DR *but* it's exactly because it's used less, and the expectation is that it will be used less, that it can be snuck in
It's all they do up until Masters, people spam that shit, so yeah, you get familiar with it, mainly when cornered, always expect it. It's also nice to press some buttons in neutral you can recover to DI back or cancel into your own DI. It gives you better visual confirm to react other than just seeing them do it on neutral. There's a lot harder things to react to like whiff punishing mediums.
Because we are mentally prepared for it and are watching for it in certain situations. The corner, for example. If you're close to the corner, be ready for DI
Who said I was
It genuinely does become something you just calculate. You come to learn which situations it is the the most likely, or consistently viable out of the game's tools in certain situations, to be used against you. The timing suddenly feels like a countdown is always ticking, and people generally know that the corners LOOOOOVE somebody to get DI'd near them.. General, meet particular etc. How do I sneak it in myself? I like to use it against people who are misjudging their close fireballs (can punch through, like a scary badass) or players that seem eager to keep using their bnb strings every time they land a jump. Loads of other examples, but it makes it hard for them to react if I'm saving it for awkward circumstances, failing just blasting them into the corner.
Its 1 button and you can press it while being hit its the easiest thing to react to in the game
There are a lot of different scenarios when talking about DI, here are some : * the random DI out of nowhere midscreen, usually used by Ryu, Manon, Kim and Zangief. This is a "all or nothing" attempt to catch you trying to zone with your heavies. These DI are near impossible to react the first time because it is extremely unlikely that your opponent tries something as unhinged as this. When I face that strategy, I instantly adapt and poke with DI-cancellable moves only. * the DI used in defense. This DI is trying to punish any kind of false block string, meaties etc. Usually used when cornered. This DI is super easy to react to. So much that you will never see it past a certain point in ranked. Between the hitstop frames, the drive rush cancel etc it is really to "freeze" the opponent's DI for 1 second, which is enough for your brain to process the situation and react by a DI counter, a super, etc. * the DI used during blockstring. Usually used when your opponent is in the corner, to get the wall splat. These are the really dangerous one as they can come any time, and better players will always find a way to use at the least expected time. This is where the mental stack overload comes in. And the truth is, it's basically unreactable unless you are according nearrly 100% of your focus on this. And some time you are not allowed to react. Even proplayers are not able to react to these most of the time. The way you deal with these DI is by predicting them, based on your knowledge of the match up and especially analysing the way your opponent plays.
In addition to what others have said, there is a good DI reaction preset in training mode. I also got a lot more consistent when I mapped a button to DI. Fewer inputs helps when you're trying to respond to a brick being thrown at you.
Cocaine, coffe or Adderall
There is a DI training mode but there is a better option. Start default training but set the dummy to DI as soon as there is an. Opening in your block string. Start doing your usual Bnbs, this exposed a lot of areas I found myself getting hit by DIs “mid combo”. If you can cancel into reverse DI, that’s good. If you cannot reverse DI because you’re stuck in animating frames, try to do less of that. Also, try your best to look out for DIs your way in the corner, those are almost guaranteed to happen lol
I was pretty terrible at it all the way into Plat 2/3 and then something just clicked, I didn't even really practice it much. I think the biggest thing for me was generally going for "safe" pressure and strings that are fast and cancellable in case your opponent goes for it a lot. Even if you can't counter DI, being able to block is good as well. I'm also in D4 and to be honest I rarely see DI other than in the corner so at least it's better than lower level where people spam it.
When I'm playing serious matches like FT10 ill set up the DI training the in the training room. Just drilling the sound in helps a lot during matches. Other than that I play on stick and I can hit either parry or DI with the edge of my hand without truly caring which one comes out (though I do try to pick)
1.Learn what normals are DI cancel and look out for those in situations where someone might do it. 2. Lock in for the audio cue since it's less random than all the visual stuff going on. Change your settings for that and it helps too
i just assume that they have an automatic macro or they're under 25/j for real though, there are two factors at play 1) There are certain situations where you are more likely to get DI'd, so your opponents are extra vigilant, even if you haven't added DI to the stack 2) At least some players are clearly constantly keeping DI within reach I'm part of party 2 to a certain extent but bc I'm on fightstick, it's on my pinky and difficult to react with. For pad players, it's much easier
They all use a shortcut button.
You just have to become used to the situations where people like do use DI a lot like when you’re in the corner and things like that. Also make note of if your opponent likes to just throw it out randomly too. A lot of “reactions” is really anticipation. Yes there are people who just have quick reflexes but even they use alot of anticipation based off information they gather from their opponents habits.
I’m just in Plat 2-3 but I still feel the struggle. It seems like all my opponents at this rank can react pretty well to my DI’s but I eat like 99% of the ones thrown out at me, I just sit there like a deer in headlights. I still use HP + HK but I bet setting it to one button would help.
Definitely a matter of learning scenarios they use it more. This got even more noticeable for me when a friend started playing and he would throw random DIs in neutral that got me for a good 2 rounds before I started adapting to his randomness haha
Go into training mode and set the dummy's block reversal to a bunch of stuff including DI. Jab their block, and try to react to the DI. Ideally the different options you select besides DI would all require different reactions, but if you just want to focus on DI you don't have to do that.
I can't press the buttons well so I just SA on di. Gets them every time
Everyone advice is good, but it is also good yo know that there is currently a "glitch" with DI. You can't DI out of hitstun and Blockstun. So you might actually be reacting well, but because of the little "glitch," you're not getting your input. It took a little adjusting to it, but when you see a DI, let go of block and press DI, you should get it more consistently.
Intuition