---
title: 'Watch this 1 Daigo match to learn 14 Fighting Game fundamentals'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=X6B_NoAdbJs'
video_id: 'X6B_NoAdbJs'
date: 2026-06-19
duration_sec: 0
---

# Watch this 1 Daigo match to learn 14 Fighting Game fundamentals

> Source: [Watch this 1 Daigo match to learn 14 Fighting Game fundamentals](https://youtube.com/watch?v=X6B_NoAdbJs)

## Summary

This video analyzes a single match between Daigo and CN from the Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals 2014 in Ultra Street Fighter 4 to identify 14 fundamental fighting game skills. The creator argues that while modern fighting games have improved tutorials, they still fail to teach core gameplay fundamentals like when to apply moves in a real match. Watching top players is presented as the best way to learn these skills.

### Key Points

- **Fighting games lack fundamental teaching** [0:00] — Tutorials teach special moves and combos but not when and how to apply them in a real match.
- **Match analysis: Daigo vs CN** [0:33] — The match is from Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals 2014, Ultra Street Fighter 4, featuring Daigo (Evil Ryu) vs CN (Gen). The analysis focuses on the first game only.
- **Two main fundamentals: controlling space and pressing the advantage** [3:28] — Controlling space involves using moves like fireballs to cover screen area. Pressing the advantage means maximizing damage when in a positive situation.
- **Frame traps** [5:04] — A frame trap is a situation where if the opponent presses a button, they get interrupted due to a small gap (e.g., 2 frames) that is not enough for their attack to come out.
- **Poking** [5:54] — Poking means using an attack at the tip of its range to hit the opponent from a safe distance. Examples include Daigo's standing medium kick and CN's crouching medium punch.
- **Tick throw** [6:48] — A tick throw is performing an attack and then throwing the opponent immediately after they recover from it. It's a way to mix up and catch the opponent off guard.
- **Option select** [7:33] — An option select is a set of inputs that yields different outcomes based on the opponent's action. Example: jab into medium punch (frame trap) if opponent blocks, or sweep if they backdash.
- **Whiff punish** [9:01] — A whiff punish is punishing an opponent's missed attack. It's a key part of footsies and requires reacting to slow attacks.
- **Reversals** [10:04] — Reversals are invincible moves (e.g., EX Dragon Punch, Super, Ultra) used on wake-up or block to escape pressure. They are punishable if blocked.
- **Cross-ups** [11:17] — A cross-up is a jumping attack that hits the opponent on the back, forcing them to switch their block direction. Effective against new players.
- **Air-to-air** [13:15] — Hitting the opponent out of the air with an air-to-air attack is essential because you cannot block in the air in most Street Fighter games.
- **Hit confirming** [14:01] — Hit confirming means waiting to see if an attack hits before committing to a combo. If it hits, finish the combo; if blocked, do something safe. Practice with random guard in training mode.
- **High-low mix-up** [15:48] — High-low mix-ups involve using overheads (must block standing) and low attacks (must block crouching) to keep the opponent guessing on defense.
- **Bait and punish** [17:27] — Baiting an opponent's reversal (e.g., invincible move) and then punishing it because reversals are usually unsafe on block. This is a high-level skill.

### Conclusion

The video demonstrates that a single high-level match can contain numerous fundamental fighting game skills. By studying top players, viewers can learn and apply these fundamentals to improve their own gameplay, especially with the upcoming release of Street Fighter 6.

## Transcript

folks fighting games have gotten a lot
better over the years at teaching you
how to play the game tutorials have
gotten a lot more in-depth games
actually teach you stuff like Frame data
now but I still think that fighting
games struggle in terms of teaching you
the fundamentals of how to play the
genre you know they teach you how to do
your special moves they teach you how to
do your combos but they don't teach you
when and how you should be applying
those in a real match so I think one of
the best ways to improve at these
fundamentals is to watch other people
especially top players and see what
they're doing and learn from them so
today I think I've found for you a top
level match where an extremely massive
amount of fighting game fundamentals are
displayed in only one game so the match
that we're taking a look at today is
Daigo versus CN this is from Capcom Pro
Tour Asia finals 2014 in Ultra Street
Fighter 4 and we're just watching the
very first game
the whole match is really long and it's
a really really great match so I'll link
that down in the description if you want
to watch the whole thing but just in the
first game I have identified over a
dozen
fighting game fundamental skills that
you need to have if you want to be good
at this genre especially with Street
Fighter 6 coming out just over three
weeks can you believe that you guys are
going to want to know some of these
Basics so that you can go out there and
get some wins online so what do you say
we start things out here Daigo with Evil
Ryu versus CN with Ganon we're gonna
watch the video through just one time at
full speed
just to you know soak it all in and see
what happens then we'll go through again
and I'm gonna do a bunch of pausing and
pointing out all these little
fundamentals but you know I go looking
pretty good so far with the the
knockdown but nice throw Tech from CN
trying to poke with crouching medium
punch but getting pushed into the corner
getting knocked down by the repeated
sweeps here repeated crouching medium
punches as well
the igo's pressure is looking crazy
right now wake up Ultra though is gonna
connect I don't know if you guys
remember this Ultra only does gray life
so you can see that's all recoverable
life but Stan lands the throw so that's
gonna take away all the gray life so
this is a good outcome for CN here and
he's got Daigo pushed into the corner
not a super good position here for the
Beast
yeah I got a full screen to work with
and there's a nice air-to-air jump Round
House
the red Focus Lewis loses the forward
roundhouse canceled into ex Tatsu though
that was sick from Daigo and then the
fireball to chip out no chip kills in
Street Fighter 6 but
here in uh the Street Fighter 4 chip was
very much a factor when you're low on
life so already Daigo has the corner
there's towards medium punch overhead
standing medium kick poke from just the
right range
the sand in a very tough position here
trade DP combo into another DP there's a
throw Tech
oh we're punished crowd strong into in
the hundred hand slap but seeing on just
the pixel ish a pixel and change and
this time the raw Ultra is not going to
work out Daigo hits him with the EXP to
go through it and that's game one guys
that's the whole game so would you
really believe that there's somewhere
around 10 12 ish fighting game
fundamentals just in that one game alone
so I'm gonna do my best to point them
out to you and right when we start off
here I want to talk to you about what I
would consider the two main fundamentals
of fighting games in general I think the
first place I heard this was from David
surlin on the uh Street Fighter 2
Anniversary Collection tutorial videos
he talked about the two main
fundamentals of Street Fighter which are
controlling space
that's number one and pressing the
advantage that's number two so to start
out let's talk about controlling space
and I think one of the most obvious ways
to control space is with a fireball
right so Evil Ryu Fireball you know that
covers a massive amount of space because
it you know it goes full screen so uh
Evil Ryu is going to be trying to
control this huge amount of screen space
here with Fireball
you can see he's doing a great job of it
but now
gen has gotten in here as CN and he's
gonna be pressing the advantage so when
we say pressing the advantage we
basically mean if you're in a positive
situation a situation where your
character has the advantage over the
opponent you have to kind of push that
and try to get damage out of it and try
to continue the situation instead of
just like going back to neutral and
getting back into a situation where
neither player is at the advantage you
should try to get as much damage as
possible whenever you're in a positive
situation and CN here is in a positive
situation when he gets this Dash
you can see Daigo doesn't press any
buttons here so CN gets the jab and now
he is plus I'm not going to talk too
much about Frame data here but
essentially when you're at plus frames
you can act before the opponent which
means you're at Advantage so that's two
things right off the bat controlling
space pressing the advantage those are
the first two fundamentals and the third
one here I'm going to talk about is
frame traps so you can see he does stand
jab Crouch strong and that is actually a
frame trap so a frame trap is
essentially a situation where if the
opponent presses a button they're gonna
get interrupted so you can see after the
standing jab here if I press buttons I'm
gonna get hit so there's a very small
Gap there like a two frame gap which is
not enough time for any of my attacks to
come out so I'll get hit by the way I'll
point out while I'm here that uh this
Focus dash into jab is not actually real
uh Daigo could actually interrupt there
if you press the button but but right
here Daigo very respectful he blocks
here and then once again he blocks the
frame trap attempt so he doesn't bite he
doesn't get hit by pressing any buttons
there so that's some good awareness
there from Daigo but I want to talk
about the next fundamental here which is
poking
so when we say poking and fighting games
generally we mean using an attack kind
of at the tip of its range that's kind
of what we're looking for we're we're
hitting the opponent with an attack from
as far away as that attack can possibly
be used so you know we have Daigo here
poking with standing medium kick very
solid poke for Evil Ryu and then we have
Sian poking with crouching medium punch
you can see these normals not quite
interacting Daigo poking with crouching
medium kick into Fireball and then
poking with Fireball as well Fireball
can be a very strong poke if you use it
from close range where it's unreactable
but once again CN is gonna get this
Focus attack level one into the dash up
and this time daigo's ready he steals
his turn back with a jab because he does
know like I showed you it's not actually
gen's turn in that situation so Daigo
pulls out the jab here and he does what
is our next fundamental I want to talk
about which is a tick throw tick throw
is really simple it just means doing any
attack
and then throwing the opponent right
after they recover from it so you can
tick throw with a jumping that totally
works or you can tick throw uh with
buttons or whatever so tick throw good
way to mix up the opponent catch them
off guard so he gets the throw there
with the tick throw and then what's he
doing here he's pressing his Advantage
guys let me just rub it in more a throw
is a really good opportunity to press
your advantage when you get the knock
down especially in games like Street
Fighter 5 and 6 you see people doing
throw loops and stuff where they throw
the opponent and then the opponent has
to guess when they're waking up whether
they're gonna get thrown again so press
the advantage that's exactly what he's
doing here he does the jab and then look
at that
CN back dashes and then gets hit by The
Sweep this is our next little piece of
tech here I don't know if I would call
this actually a fundamental because this
is pretty high level but this is an
option select guide so an option select
means you do one set of inputs and then
depending on what the opponent does you
can get multiple outcomes so Watch What
Happens here if I block if I block he
gets jab into medium punch which is
pretty good it's a frame trap and you
know he can start whatever pressure he
wants after this but what happens if I
back down to get away from that jab
let's check it out look I got sweat and
you can see this is a dummy recording so
he's doing the same inputs no matter
what
but you can see if I backdash here a
sweep comes out so again this is a
pretty high level technique but
essentially what he's doing is he's
hiding the heavy kick input during the
screen freeze if the jab connects I know
it's a little bit complicated you don't
really need this as a new player but you
should definitely know that option
selects exist especially when Street
Fighter 6 comes out we don't know what
all option selects are going to be in
the game but it is a very useful concept
to know and especially to recognize when
your opponent is using them on you so
that you can have stuff ready to deal
with it alright moving on so he gets the
knockdown once again he's pressing his
Advantage he goes for another tick throw
CN texts it this time good throw Tech
okay did you see that that's another
fundamental right there that I want to
talk about that's called a whiff punish
guys a whiff punish is so important in
Street Fighter he whiffs the crouching
heavy kick that's what we call it when
an attack misses the opponent we call
that a whiff and then there's the punish
with crouching medium punch he probably
tried to go into gen's hundred hand Slap
Attack here but doesn't get the input
but regardless that is a whiff punish an
important part of footsies something you
need to know if you react and see those
slow attacks that the opponent sticks
out so with punish is super important
now he's uh controlling space and
pressing his Advantage really because
he's got CNN in the corner when your
back is in the corner your options are
greatly limited so this is another type
of advantage that you can create in the
match by cornering the opponent that is
a huge Advantage for you to take here so
he's pressuring him with crouching
medium punches again pressing the
advantage by going for the jump in and
then using the frame advantage on
crouching medium punch to really apply
pressure here and then he gets that huge
walk-up throw he's got another knockdown
but
guess what if the opponent is pressing
advantage on you you might want to try
to use a reversal to get out so that's
our next fundamental is reversals so if
you're really annoyed that you know the
opponent basically has you in like this
forever blocking situation and you're
getting frustrated that you don't know
how to get out you're just stuck sitting
there while the opponent does their
thing a reversal is a good way to get
out so a reversal is going to be an
invincible move that you can use either
on wake up or uh on blocks so you can
see here I can use my ex Up Kicks as a
reversal that's Invincible or I can use
you know stuff like super and Ultra as
well those are going to be invincible so
in Street Fighter 6 ex Dragon punches
are invincible reversals as are a lot of
supers so again you can do that on wake
up or you can do it on blocks so here's
an example I can go right through his
crouching medium punch with my ex Up
Kicks my ex uppercut plus kick will get
me right through so uh reversals they
are punishable if blocked that's going
to come up later but they're a good way
to get out of the opponent's pressure
all right so if my if my count is
correct here we're we're up to eight
fundamental pieces of fighting game
knowledge already but let's keep going
so sand does empty jump throw there and
here a nice cross-up that's another
important fundamental guys that is
another way to press your advantage most
characters in Street Fighter have a
cross-up but not all so if you can knock
the opponent down
and then you can go for a jumping attack
that hits them on the back they have to
switch the direction they guard so just
to show you I'll let the dummy do this
to me here so I'll hold back on wake up
to block and you can see I get hit
because back becomes forward because we
switch sides so to block this you have
to switch the direction you block and
you actually have to block forward so
this time I will block forward
and there you can see I successfully
blocked the cross up so cross-ups are
especially effective against new players
because they're not going to see it
coming experienced players are going to
be pretty good at blocking them but
there are additional ways to make it
trickier like if your character has a
dive kick it can be very confusing
whether they're going to hit on the
front or the back or other ways to alter
their sort of air trajectory like if
they have a hurricane kick or something
they can do in the air you can make your
cross-ups even more tricky that way but
cross-ups are a super good way to press
the advantage when you have a knockdown
and the other nice thing about this is
you know after the cross-up even if they
block it
you're still in an advantageous
situation because you land and you can
act quickly so this is a really great
way to press your advantage like I said
that's one of the two main fundamentals
controlling space and pressing Advantage
I really want to hammer that home for
you guys make sure to look out for those
situations all right let's keep moving
on here
so sand poking with crashing medium
punch there we love to see the pokes
neutral jumping the fireball but you
know Evil Ryu controlling space really
well here huge walk up and then
check this out the air to air jump
roundhouse I think he could have comboed
off this I know for sure gen can go into
like super and Ultra office but uh CM
didn't have uh super ultra meter so
maybe there's nothing he could have
commented with there but regardless
hitting the opponent out of the air in
Street Fighter is so essential because
in most Street Fighter games including
Street Fighter 4 and Street Fighter 6
you cannot Block in the air so if you
jump you're opening yourself up to being
anti-ared whether it's from the ground
or with what we call an air-to-air when
you jump up to hit the opponent out of
the air so this is a super essential
skill especially at low levels because
everyone just jumps all the time so make
sure your antiers are on point let's
continue here so he gets the knockdown
with that anteater he goes for the red
focus and gets gets Focus breaker that
is so crazy from Daigo that is that is
one of the all-time Daigo skills there
is getting those Focus breaks but let's
move on oh
Daigo gets the fadc into the full combo
and he just displayed a really important
fundamental which is hit confirming so
Daigo he did crouching medium kick into
Fireball Focus attack Dash cancel into
like a full ridiculous combo so you're
going to want to hit confirm this so
that if the opponent blocks you don't
just waste your meter for no reason and
not get any damage off it so hit confirm
means basically you wait and you see
confirm did it hit and if it hit you're
gonna finish your combo but if they
blocked it you're not going to finish
your combo you're going to do something
else so if it was blocked Daigo probably
would have just done you know crouching
medium kick in the Fireball and that's
it another example could be like if you
want to do like this Evil Ryu combo
light kick light punch medium punch into
hurricane kick if the opponent blocks
this you're not really happy because
you're probably going to be punishable
you're going to land right in front of
them and you know eat a big punish and
not get any damage so you can make sure
that it's actually going to hit a good
way to practice this in training mode
set the dummy to random guard I see a
lot of people have never used the random
guard feature it's super important
you know you can see I'm checking
there it hits so I'll finish the combo
and the same thing with this you know
like if this hits I'm only gonna do the
fadc
like that so yeah you only want to spend
the meter and you only want to do
something that might leave you unsafe on
block if it's actually gonna hit so
practicing hit confirming I think is one
of the most important things that you
can do when you're picking up a new
fighting game learn your character's
Combos and learn what combos you can hit
confirm into all right so he got the
very nice fadc hit confirm there now
he's got the knockdown he's pressing at
his advantage and for the first time
this set we see high low mix up guys
that's a fundamental of course so we've
already seen lots of throw Mix-Ups you
know going for like tick throws and
stuff like that or like empty jump throw
you know throw is a really really good
way to mix up but in fighting games
there's also high low Mix-Ups because
you know there's standing block and
crouching block so there are certain
moves that can only be blocked standing
so generally in Street Fighter it's rare
to get a combo off of an overhead this
is called an overhead in case you didn't
know a move that can only be blocked
standing is called an overhead it's rare
to have combos off of overheads there's
some some exceptions like Dudley but for
the most part overheads are just going
to be like a little bit of damage just
one attack's worth of damage but this is
kind of like free damage for Daigo
because you know obviously crouching
medium kick is such a threat he gets
such massive damage off crouching medium
kick that CN in this match is going to
be blocking low the entire time so uh
yeah overheads like this can be a great
way to eke out extra damage and meter
build and make the opponent think twice
about what to do on defense so don't
neglect the power of a high low mix up
all right we're at if my count is
correct we're at 13 fundamentals so far
but I think before we get to the end
here I think we can even find one more
so I'll keep pointing everything out we
got poking we got footsies
oh okay we got pressing the advantage
here in the corner we got reversal to
get out there with the Invincible Dragon
punch
we got throws okay not a tick throw but
a throw Tech we got whiff punishing
again
there's a tick throw off the jumping now
he's got the knockdown in the corner
nice throw Tech from CN and here we see
another the last on our list today of
fundamentals is the bait and punish so
of course we talked about the power of
reversals you know if the opponent's got
you knocked down they're pressuring you
while you're waking up or just
pressuring you on block as well an
invincible reversal will get you out of
the situation and get you the turn back
so that you can be the one pressing your
advantage all of a sudden but the one
big downside of course is that you can
be baited and punished because pretty
much every Invincible reversal is going
to be unsafe on Block in most games so
you know like that ex Up Kicks we saw
earlier you can just get a huge full
punish if you block that or like we saw
die go through you can be even more
disrespectful with it and you can use
your own Invincible move to go right
through oh and in this situation we
actually
oh there we go okay yeah we beat him
clean yeah so you know whoever does the
Invincible move second is generally
gonna win but it can be a little risky
to go for that so most moves that are
punishable on block it is gonna be safer
to just block and punish that way so
yeah baiting an attack baiting them to
do something and then waiting for it so
that you can punish it super important
skill once again especially at low
levels people are doing lots of unsafe
stuff so you're going to want to have
your punishes on Deck all right so with
that I've counted up a total of 14
pieces of knowledge in one match man
this is crazy I absolutely love watching
these players go at it two of my
favorites Daigo and CN and once again
I'll link the full match in the
description if you want to watch it it's
like a 30 minute video so there's a lot
to enjoy here so make sure to check that
out and I hope you guys enjoyed this
little breakdown let me know if there's
other types of breakdowns or other types
of fighting game fundamentals that
you're curious about and what learn more
about hit me up in the comments and I
will maybe make a future video about it
so let me know about that and I hope you
guys enjoyed I'll see you in the next
one bye everybody