#fighting games

Mashing a button at frame disadvantage, praying for a counter-hit.

Cancelling a move's start-up into another move to steal extra range.

The frames after getting hit where you can't do anything but take it.

Inputting at the right moment to escape a throw or soften a knockdown.

An attack that hits from behind, tricking you into blocking the wrong way.

A chain of attacks the opponent blocks back-to-back to keep them pinned in defense.

Jumping to block in the air instead of on the ground in air-block games — the coward's defence.

An invincible move done on the very first frame you can act out of block or knockdown.

A combo you can loop forever while the opponent's stuck eating it.

Your character's go-to combo — reliable, easy, the one you'll do a thousand times.

An attack timed to land on its dying active frames as they wake up — max plus frames.

A coin-flip mixup — block the wrong way and you're guessing right half the time at best.

The little bit of life you lose blocking specials and supers — death by a thousand pokes.

Inputting your next move during the current animation so it fires the instant it can.

When a blockstring traps you and you can't duck out after blocking hit one.

Cancelling weak normals into stronger ones to build a combo, no specials needed.

A character built to keep you at arm's length and chip you from afar.

A blocked jab into an instant throw — the cheapest reset in fighting games.

The brief freeze-frame both characters share the instant an attack connects.

Walking out of throw range to bait a throw, then whiff-punishing it.

An invincible rising uppercut on a forward-down-forward motion — the answer to jump-ins.

Blocking the exact frame an attack lands to cut blockstun and pushback.

A grounded move built to swat jumping opponents out of the sky.

A knockdown-into-mixup loop that keeps them guessing until they die.

Reading how your opponent gets up and punishing it before they can move.

A special-move throw that grabs straight through blocking and shields.

One input that auto-picks the right answer for you based on what they do.

A single combo that takes someone from full health to KO with no escape.

The invisible zone on a character that has to be touched for a hit to land.

An in-your-face archetype that wins by smothering you with fast offense.

Reading whether your move hit or got blocked, then deciding to combo or stay safe.

Offensive pressure you pile on while the opponent gets up off the floor.

A hitbox that sticks out past the character's hurtbox, so the limb can't be hit.

A jump-in timed so tight you block their wake-up reversal even if it whiffs.

The mid-range poking battle of spacing, baiting, and whiff-punishing.

An attack string with a tiny gap that stuffs anyone who tries to mash out.